


I Think We Saved the World Together

by bigCheese



Series: You'll always sacrifice yourself, and I'll always save you [1]
Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (Video Games), Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Alternate Universe - Space, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-20
Updated: 2020-06-06
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:49:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 22,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24293890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bigCheese/pseuds/bigCheese
Summary: Reincarnation AU. Humanity is at war with an alien race known as the Amphaas, and Shadow and Sonic are recruits in the space corps. Shadow is out for vengeance against the Amphaas, but he begins to wish for better, softer things, as he spends time with Sonic, the recruit who advocates for peace in the middle of a war.
Relationships: Knuckles the Echidna/Rouge the Bat, Shadow the Hedgehog/Sonic the Hedgehog
Series: You'll always sacrifice yourself, and I'll always save you [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1874101
Comments: 65
Kudos: 86





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, gamers. Uh. I got a lot to say so please read this? So a while ago I thought, 'I wanna write a Sonadow fic', and then a while later, the first chapter of this fic was born. I wasn't sure I liked it all that much, but I kept writing. I'm actually a few chapters in now, and...the general feeling I have towards this fic is that I probably overshot with this AU. 
> 
> The pacing is pretty fast, maybe a bit too fast. The characterization probably could be better (even though I've done nothing but absorb all kinds of Sonic content for the past four months, I'm not sure I've assimilated Shadow and Sonic's characters perfectly...), but uh, this is what I've got to offer you right now. I still put a lot of work into it!! There's some good scenes in there. You'll probably like it as long as you don't look at it too closely.
> 
> If you look at my other works, you'll see that the last fic I posted was in 2018, so it's been a hot minute since I posted a fic online. I'm kinda nervous about it since it's been a while. So that's that on that.
> 
> Regarding the Amphaas: they're not the Black Arms mainly because I think that name is kinda stupid? Also a whole race that can only be described as 'evil' is uhh not my jam. So, I took a name from fantasynamegenerator dot org and whipped up an alien race. 
> 
> And oh! A lil' disclaimer: throughout the fic, I use names for space systems that I took from the map in Mass Effect and a Halo novel LMAO because I am a sucker for both those franchises. 
> 
> That's it! Hope you enjoy your read!

_''No way that's getting through!''_

_The cold void of space burned red hot, and, as his fate crashed towards him with the speed of a comet, there was someone beside him. His brilliance stronger than the fear, greater than the pain. Golden as daylight._

_''Now, Shadow!''_

* * *

2140 hours, March 5, 2552 (military calendar)

ASC Shuttle

Deep Space, Polona Sector

Basic training starts tomorrow. I'm in a shuttle with a dozen other recruits heading to the carrier, and I should be catching some sleep right now. I'm just too wound up to sleep. I'm finally taking the first step towards fulfilling my promise.

I listened to some of the recruits talking. Some seem as serious about this war as I am, some not. I suppose I won't have to deal with them for long. Either the corps will deal with them, or the Amphaas will.

One of them spoke to me. Spoke at me, I should say. Very chatty. She said she wants to work in Intelligence after basic. She got me to tell her my name and where I was born, so I guess she's got the potential. At least I won't run into her much if she's in Intel.

I really am tired, but I still won't fall asleep, I know it. Wish I could at least look at space from in here, but the only windows on the shuttle are in the cockpit. Hopefully the barracks will have windows, or else training had better be hard enough to beat my insomnia

No matter what, I won't let you down, Maria.

* * *

The most recent ''batch'' counted roughly three hundred recruits, arriving from different parts of different human-inhabited planets. Some wanted the glory of fighting off alien invaders, some wanted the handsome salary promised in the pamphlets about the corps, some had recently come into adulthood with no clue what to do with their lives. Two had enlisted on a dare.

Every batch had at least one of those.

Over the next six months of training, that number would dwindle significantly as the weaker recruits were weeded out. Only the most resolved would make the ranks.

The thought helped Shadow cling to his sanity as he stood surrounded by those three hundred-odd recruits, who formed the messiest, sorriest-looking rows in the history of the corps, or so Shadow assumed.

Rouge, the chatty recruit from the shuttle ride, slunk next to him, but remained quiet. A lot of the recruits were talking, buzzing with nervous energy. The only officers on deck were two adjutants who had escorted them here from the hangar. They made a noble, yet ultimately failed attempt to establish order.

Shadow stood at attention, quiet, although his irritated scowl as his eyes scanned over the row in front of him would most definitely get him on a drill sergeant's bad side. Shadow's eyes landed on a recruit standing and chattering in a lively voice a few meters away.

_I know him,_ the thought, sudden and overwhelming, thrummed under Shadow's skin. His mouth hung open as he stared at the recruit, and cycled through his memories in search of any instance in which they had met, to no avail. The green eyes, the boyish voice – no, Shadow didn't remember anyone like that. Shadow didn't know him. His heart lurched, overcome with the feeling that he had lost something immeasurably important.

Luckily, Shadow didn't have time to dwell on it, as the senior officer aboard the carrier walked on deck, and began addressing them.

Humanity was on the cusp of a war with an alien race that had thus far shown no signs of wanting to establish peaceful communications. What had started with isolated skirmishes in space had only recently begun to be taken seriously as the dead increased, and the humans feared that this problem would find its way to their planets.

Shadow's batch of recruits would be the first to be trained within the Allied Space Corps with the intent of fighting the aliens, who, according to intercepted transmissions, referred to themselves as Amphaas.

Aboard this carrier, the recruits would be taken to a secret ASC military facility, where their new lives would begin.

*

The recruits were escorted to the crew's quarters to sleep off what time was left on the flight, but Shadow didn't stay, instead leaving to search the ship for a window that overlooked the dark expanse of space. The sight always soothed him, reminded him of happier times.

When he found a window, Shadow lost track of time as he stared out at the stars, until the need to sleep got the better of him. He made his way back to the crew's quarters, where he found several recruits sitting around and talking.

Among them were Rouge, and that green-eyed recruit, who waved Shadow over with a grin. ''A new member of the No Sleep Gang. Come sit with us!''

''No thanks, I was just about to go sleep,'' Shadow replied as he walked over to an empty bunk.

''Come on, Shadow,'' Rouge insisted with a confident smile. ''For better or for worse, we're going to be training side by side for the next six months, so wouldn't it be better if we all got to know each other a little? Talk with us! Or at least sit and listen—this charming man with the green eyes and the boyish grin does enough talking for everyone.''

''I'm not sure if that was an insult or a compliment,'' Green Eyes said with a small chuckle.

''It was a compliment! Believe me, if I was trying to insult you, you'd know it.''

''Roger that. So, Shadow, right? Rouge is right about how we should get to know each other, but if you're really tired, you—''

Sighing heavily, Shadow took a seat in their little circle, and threw a cursory glance at the other recruits. Shadow hadn't enlisted to make friends, but he couldn't deny that Rouge made good point saying that they would be better off getting along. On the off chance that these people made it through basic, they would all serve together. Maybe in the same platoon.

Shadow wasn't the most sociable person, but he wasn't immature enough to antagonize the people he worked with for no good reason. ''So, what were you all talking about?''

''Where we're from, our families—the usual breaking the ice stuff,'' one of the recruits offered.

Green Eyes lifted his hand as though they were taking roll call. ''And our names! I'm Sonic.''

Shadow listened to the others rattle off their names, entirely unsure whether he managed to seem interested or not. His eyes kept drifting over to Sonic, who, in Shadow's defense, appeared to draw the whole group's attention.

''The staff sergeant who was standing next to the captain earlier? We're buddies. Which doesn't mean the grouch will give me any kind of special treatment, just that there'll finally be someone here to properly bust his chops. And, y'know, watch his back so he doesn't die.''

Upon hearing those words, Shadow felt his figurative approval meter go up. ''Ideally you'd be watching everyone's back, not just his.''

Picking up on Shadow's slightly more jovial tone, Sonic answered: ''Wait, really? Here I thought it was gonna every soldier for themselves.''

The corner of Shadow's lips tilted up.

''What about you, Shadow? Can we count on you to have our backs when the fighting gets real?''

''Depends how often you need saving. I have a quota.''

It was Sonic's turn to smile wryly. ''Got it.''

With a pleased hum, Rouge said: ''What's better than this? Future squadmates on their way to becoming the best of friends. You love to see it.''

This time, Shadow did roll his eyes, though he didn't feel annoyed at the comment.

Then, Sonic said: ''Tell you what I'd love to see—this war ending peacefully.''

Shadow's smile fell. ''What do you mean?''

''You know, a truce between us and the Amphaas. Communication, some cultural exchange down the line...peace, y'know?''

The amiable atmosphere that had settled over their group was unceremoniously shattered when Shadow said through gritted teeth: ''You're an idiot if you truly believe that could happen.''

Sonic blinked at him, only slightly frowning as he asked: ''What, that we could achieve peace?''

''We're long past idealist fantasies,'' Shadow answered bitingly. ''You're in the wrong place if you're not here to put an end to this war.''

''I am though? I just think it'd be better to end it with a truce than with more bloodshed. Are you saying _that's_ wrong?''

All Shadow could see as he looked at Sonic now was a deluded boy who had seen too many feel-good movies, and had come here to play pretend peace fighter. Worse yet than the idiots who had enlisted on a dare, and would run back home in the first week, this one would keep posing as a soldier until he got people killed. Shadow wasn't going to waste time talking to him or his friends.

''I've clearly picked the wrong group to sit with,'' Shadow ignored the question, and stood up to walk away. ''You better leave to go write songs while you still have the chance, faker.''

''Nice meeting you!'' Sonic called out after him, a sarcastic edge in his voice. ''I'm sure we'll be best buds just like Rouge said!''

The portrait of levity, Rouge raised her hand, cupped as though she were holding a glass, to her mouth. Then, looking at her empty hand, said: ''Shoot. I'm really going to miss having wine to accompany all this drama.''

* * *

2210 hours, March 12, 2552 (military calendar)

ASC Training Facility

Planet Netherop, Ephyra System

It's been a week since we were dropped off at the training facility, and started basic. I have to say, there's some impressive equipment here, and a load of space. Too bad all we've done this week is practice getting up and getting in uniform in under a minute, and basic calisthenics drills. We're here for the next six months, though, so we'll get to more interesting stuff soon enough.

I haven't talked to that naive fool since the night on the carrier. I expected to run into some idiots here, but I figured they would just be your standard glory-hungry jocks, or I don't know. Not this. I heard him say he's from Earth, so he hasn't seen firsthand what the Amphaas do. Hasn't lived it. That much makes sense, but I can't be the only one thinking it's ridiculous to join the military if you've got some half-brained dream to one day shake hands with the enemy.

I don't know what went through my head when I first saw him. He just looked like someone I knew, I guess. I still get that feeling when I look at him, but it fades after a few seconds. It's weird. Hopefully it'll stop completely with time.

Peace is all good and well in a book or in a movie, but it's not what I'm after. The Amphaas took Maria and everyone onboard ARK away from me, and they're going to pay. Sonic can make friends with them all he wants – I'll just have one more shot to take.

* * *

The training facility was, as contradictory as the mix sounded, somewhere between military base and luxury resort. The facility itself was seated at the bottom of a beautiful mountain range, beyond which stretched a sandy shore against which lapped gentle waves of shimmering water. The temperature was mild year-long, although the recruits had been warned about the occasional acid rainfall. 

No planet was perfect.

Most of the drills were done indoors, but the recruits were flown to different areas around the facility for the 5K marches. The recruits found that the beach lost its charm quickly when they had to walk five kilometers in the sand carrying their weight in equipment.

The outdoor drills began to vary over time, from survival excursions to simulated skirmishes. Some of those bordered on fun, namely the capture the flag matches.

The general idea was simple enough: the recruits were divided into teams of fifteen, including two people who were in charge of scouting the enemy base before the match, and one person who had to coordinate the capture effort with the intel from the scouts. The remaining twelve recruits did what they could with that intel, and the equipment provided to them, to steal the flag from the opposing team's base. The matches would run all day given the number of teams.

Midday on Netherop was unbearably humid. Shadow realized that the humidity wasn't what he needed to focus on as he cut through the forest with two of his squadmates, but he couldn't help it after growing up in the controlled environment of a space colony.

''The river you mentioned is in sight,'' Shadow said.

His earpiece crackled to life with Rouge's voice: ''Then it's a straight shot to the enemy base. When the river starts to go downhill, veer left and keep low. They won't be able to see you coming.''

''Copy that.''

Shadow and his squadmates hoofed it along the river, and, as they came upon the enemy base, Rouge contacted them again: ''Six people from the enemy team are rushing our base right now. Probably a distraction.''

''We'll know if there are less than six people guarding their flag. Until then, don't send anyone out.''

''You got it, squad leader.''

''Can you not say it like that?''

''Like what?''

''Like you're congratulating me for getting a gold star in school.''

''Can't I be proud of you for being named squad leader, squad leader?''

Shadow ignored her, and turned to his squadmates. ''Let's do this, on my mark.''

Since Rouge's intel had allowed them to get this close unnoticed, Shadow's team took the guards by surprise as they stormed the base, and easily made it inside. Players could be taken out of the match by having one of the three tearaway patches on their uniform ripped off, which turned out to be a breeze for Shadow, who had been doing especially well in the hand-to-hand combat training.

Shadow did the same for the recruit guarding the flag, and counted two more as he and his team ran out the back exit.

''Rouge,'' Shadow called out through his transmitter. ''There's a wild card. I only counted five players at the base.''

It took a moment for Rouge to answer, and, when she did, the transmission opened with another silence. ''...That checks out, because it seems like our flag is gone.''

Shadow scowled. ''What? What was our team doing? Ugh, forget it. Just have everyone fan out.''

Turning to his teammates, Shadow continued: ''Take the flag, and get us the point. I'll head back to the enemy base and intercept them before they get in.''

Shadow's squadmates nodded before taking off with the flag, while Shadow doubled back towards the enemy base. It was the only place where he could realistically intercept whoever had managed to abscond with their flag, given that a forest stood between the two bases, and there was more than one path to take.

As soon as Shadow was in direct sight of the enemy base, he hoisted himself up a tree to keep watch.

It took a few minutes, but Shadow eventually spotted his team's flag against the forest brush, and, carrying it, a recruit who Shadow couldn't mistake in a million years on account of all the secret glances Shadow stole his way. Shadow frowned – it had to be him.

Sonic covered the distance between them with a speed that made Shadow understand how he might have made it past Shadow's squad. Instead of jumping down directly on Sonic, Shadow tried to account for Sonic's speed, and dropped down too early – landing right in front of Sonic, who dug his heels in the ground and skittered to a halt.

Wide-eyed, Sonic asked: ''Shadow? Where did you—''

''Hand over the flag, faker. I'd rather not have to beat it out of your hands.''

''That's surprisingly nice of you to say,'' Sonic moved the flag back as he eyed over Shadow carefully.

''I just have a personal policy against beating on the weak.''

''Pretty good line,'' Sonic praised him flatly. ''I'm putting you down for 'decent at smack talk', but I'm not handing the flag over. So, you give your best shot at taking it from me, and I'll make you eat those words.''

Barely through with his sentence, Sonic swung the flag in a wide arc. When Shadow hopped sideways to avoid it, Sonic charged past him, running as fast as his legs could take him. He ran with the certainty that Shadow could not possibly catch up to him, and that he would teach that belligerent asshole to show some respect. A grin pulled Sonic's lips mere moments before he crossed the threshold of his team's base.

Suddenly, however, Sonic slammed face first into the dirt as Shadow lunged at his legs. Shadow dragged Sonic by the ankles as Sonic cupped his free hand to scoop up dirt to toss at Shadow's face when Shadow flipped him over.

Recoiling and screwing his eyes shut, Shadow nonetheless kept his weight on Sonic's legs to prevent him from moving. He heard the sound of something tearing, and didn't need to open his eyes to know that Sonic had used the chance to rip off one of Shadow's patches, eliminating him from the match.

At that moment, Rouge's voice came in: ''Our boys just made it back to base. We won! Victory party in the mess hall later, am I right?''

Shadow couldn't help the smirk that pulled on his lips. Eyes red and stinging, he looked down at Sonic and said: ''You fight dirty for a pacifist.''

''What can I say? You deserved it.''

''Too bad my team just won,'' Shadow added casually, getting on his feet.

Sonic frowned at Shadow in disbelief, until one of his squadmates spoke up in his earpiece: ''The other team just scored the point. Sorry, Sonic.''

Heaving a sigh, Sonic stood up, and stared Shadow down. ''Looks like you did win this time. Guess there's more to you than being a dick if you were able to work as part of a team.''

Shadow's next words hung on his lips as the two of them stood facing each other, and that odd feeling came over him again. The feeling that he had lived this before, that he had fought Sonic; that the both of them had fought and known each other as equals. Shadow ignored it, scowling at Sonic. ''You don't know the first thing about me, faker.''

Shadow turned around, and started heading back to report in.

*

It wasn't long after the carrier had dropped them off on Netherop that Shadow had found himself missing space. Shadow had spent his childhood years on ARK wondering what it was like on the planets he had only read about, what the breeze and natural sunlight felt like, what this 'horizon' so many novels mentioned looked like. The irony of his wanting to be back in space after precious little time on land didn't escape him, yet there he was.

The recruits were allowed a certain amount of free time, the entirety of which Shadow tried to spend alone. Having been made squad leader based on performance, and confirmed that his squadmates were competent enough to his liking, Shadow concluded that he hadn't much reason to rub elbows with them. They respected him, and followed his directions – that was enough.

Anyone outside his squad didn't even exist, no matter how close they came to outperforming him in drills, or how much emotional turmoil they stirred up in him.

There was one person who hadn't read the 'leave Shadow alone' memo, and that person was Rouge, who seemed to find him interesting enough to hang around.

''I figured it out,'' she said one day, sitting across from him in the mess hall.

Shadow took his time finishing his bite. ''Figured what out?''

''Where you're from,'' Rouge answered.

''Yes,'' Shadow eyed her carefully. ''Because I told you the first time we talked.''

''You didn't tell me _which_ space colony you were born in, though.'' Rouge paused to gauge Shadow's reaction. The mess hall had emptied out, but she still lowered her voice. ''It was ARK, wasn't it?''

Shadow stared her down as he thought that he should have made a more dedicated attempt to ignore her during their first few weeks in the training facility. It was too late for that, sadly, and Shadow wasn't in the mood to indulge Rouge's apparent thirst for intrigue, so he simply said: ''Congratulations. I'm sure you're eager to explain how you figured it out.''

''As a matter of fact, I am! You see, when you snapped at that poor Sonic kid for daring to dream of a peaceful future—''

''—Not what I—''

''—I figured, there's some history there. Then, I asked you how long ago you decided you wanted to join the military—''

''—More like probed—''

''—You told me that it was when you were fifteen, which was three years ago. The only space colony that became nonoperational three years ago is ARK. Hence the solve.''

''An easy one, I'd say,'' Shadow gave her an unimpressed stare. ''And it only took you three months to put the pieces together.''

''No, no, my prickly friend,'' Rouge replied, her eyes lighting up as she leaned closer. ''I wasn't sure until recently, and there's a very interesting reason for that.''

''You promise?''

''Now, I'm pretty good at keeping up with the news, and I've got a good memory. From what I remembered, ARK went dark due to an accident – some technical malfunction that killed everyone onboard. That's how it was reported, anyway. Only, I was recently able to get into the corps' archives, and—''

''—You what?''

''—Turns out, alien attack! Isn't that weird? Why did the news report it as a malfunction?''

Shadow had gotten the sense that Rouge would be suited to intelligence when he had met her, and anyone who had one conversation with her could tell that she was nosey, but Shadow realized that he had underestimated her. ''How,'' he recovered slowly, ''how should I know? It was long before the war started, maybe the corps didn't want to jump the gun, and cause a panic.''

Tapping a finger on her lips, Rouge said: ''Maybe, maybe...I'll dig into it. I'm sure you'd like to know the truth too, right?''

''I already know the truth. I was there.''

''Well, sure, but memory is a fickle thing, you know? Plus, you were a fifteen-year-old kid under attack, and fearing for your life...not in the best position to observe what was going on.''

Shadow stood up abruptly, a scowl on his face as he looked down at Rouge. ''You do all the sleuthing you want. I remember what happened, and nothing could get those images out of my mind.''

Rouge watched him turn and leave. ''Guess I pushed it a bit too far...,'' she sighed. ''Poor kid.''


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey gamers. Thank you for having read the first chapter and deciding to keep reading!
> 
> I forgot to mention something in the notes last chapter (if you can believe that). I was heavily inspired to write this fic by a few fanart pieces of our lovely hedgehogs: notably  this one and [ that one](https://daisy-pooh.tumblr.com/post/190239011789/golden-cosmic-love) and [this other one](https://anti-mistajules.tumblr.com/post/175823385373/even-in-the-dust-we-shinewith-fire-and) ! So go on over and give those pieces a lil' reblog if you haven't already.
> 
> Enjoy!

2300hours, May 23, 2552 (military calendar)

ASC Training Facility

Planet Netherop, Ephyra System

I thought a pacifist would be the most unexpected thing I'd find in a military training program, but Rouge tipped the scale by turning out to be some kind of conspiracy theorist. How she didn't get busted poking in the corps archives, I don't know, but apparently she found some stuff on ARK in there. Then she acted like she was in a better position of knowing what actually happened there than me. It made me about as angry as when that idiot went on about peace with the Amphaas.

I don't need anybody telling me what happened. I remember it all. I remember Maria and I trying to run away, I remember her being gunned down, I remember the plasma scorches on her back. I'm only alive because the corps soldiers onboard were able to drive the Amphaas back.

I'm willing to believe there's a conspiracy here alright. A conspiracy to recruit all the people who are biologically-inclined to get on my last damn nerve.

* * *

Halfway into basic training, the sloppy mess of recruits that had first arrived here was starting to shape up. A good number had left, unable to keep up with the grueling training, or the pressure to perform better, or the constant, demeaning shouts from their drill instructor. The crazy bunch that made it through those first three months found themselves ready for the second phase in their training: live-ammunition drills.

The idea was once again simple: there was a course to get through, and moving targets to hit. Two squads at a time would go through the course, allotted two attempts to complete it with a 70% hit rate. Those who couldn't manage it would get to walk back to the training facility instead of being flown back.

Since Shadow's life couldn't decide between being a tragedy or a b-level comedy, his squad ended up paired with Sonic's. Obviously.

''Hey, that's awesome!'' Sonic's cheerfulness sounded sincere. ''A chance to really show each other what we're made of.''

Shadow turned to narrow his eyes at him. ''Is this a game to you? What we're doing here, all of it?''

Having sensed a competitive streak in Shadow during the capture the flag match, Sonic had expected a different reaction. ''No, I—''

''Tell your squad to look alive, and check their angles. No one here wants to walk back to base, so we're getting this on the first try.'' Shadow turned back to his own squad, adding: ''Weapons check.''

His mouth still hung open, Sonic couldn't help being impressed as he watched Shadow's squadmates answer _yes_ in near perfect sync. Shadow's words rang in his ears, and Sonic felt a pang of guilt in his stomach.

It was clear from their first conversation that this training was important to Shadow. He outperformed every recruit in the drills, he worked harder than anyone, and, despite his sour personality, had actually done an amazing job getting his squad to shape up.

It certainly hadn't been his intention, but Sonic had made light of Shadow's efforts, his resolve, all of it. Sonic stood awkwardly in place for a moment, until someone sidled up next to him.

''Don't worry about it, hon','' Rouge said softly. ''Shadow's pricklier than usual because I pissed him off yesterday.''

Sonic blinked at her. ''What did you do?''

''Oh, just got on his case about something. Anyway, don't let it get to you.''

Sneaking a glance at Shadow, Sonic wondered what he and Rouge had fought about. ''Thanks...''

''Let's kick some butt out there,'' Rouge smiled.

Then, they heard a voice shout: ''Grenade!''

—and glanced downwards to see a grenade roll at their feet. Sonic's first instinct was to shield Rouge, but he didn't have the time to move before a figure hunched over the grenade, containing the blast in their helmet.

Or rather, the small sparks from what turned out to be a dummy grenade.

Sonic and Rouge's eyes were glued to Shadow as the man stood up, lifting his helmet with a befuddled frown.

''Let that be a lesson to you, recruits,'' the gravelly, harsh voice of their drill instructor spat. He had been standing by surveying the recruits as they prepared for the exercise to start, and he had been the one to toss over the grenade. ''About standing around and talking. You'd both be dead if it weren't for this crazy son-of-a-bitch jumping in the fire for you.''

While Rouge slowly turned to give the instructor a look that meant she would one day soon end his whole career, Sonic kept staring at Shadow in full-blown disbelief. ''Shadow...you—''

Shadow, who had moved on to throwing the instructor a mildly annoyed glance, walked away without a word.

*

The planet's two suns hung low by the time every squad had finished the course. Once every piece of equipment was accounted for and packed away, several pelicans flew the recruits back to the ASC facility.

Most recruits hit the showers and changed out of their dirty fatigues first, while others went straight to the mess hall to wolf down two meals' worth of protein-rich food. Sonic was among those people, whereas Shadow took the hygiene first road.

Rouge, on the other hand, decided to pay someone a visit first. ''Staff sergeant?''

Knuckles, current senior officer on-site, looked up from his data pad. ''Oh. You.''

''Goodness, you really know how to greet a woman.''

''That's how I greet a soon-to-be soldier who spent her first month of training making passes at a commanding officer.''

Feigning offense, Rouge scoffed. ''I did no such thing. Not that it would even be an issue if you weren't such a stickler. Don't tell me no officer's ever had a roll in the bunk with a subordinate.''

''Watch it, recruit. That mouth's going to have you court-martialed one day.''

''There's a lot of things my mouth could get me, but I happen to be here for something else today.'' Rouge paused for effect, as she eyed the burly man in front of her up and down.

Rouge had, indeed, made attempts to seduce him since laying eyes on him, and his apparent immunity to her charms had made him all the more irresistible to her, _but_ if she was going to make another pass at him, it certainly wouldn't be by showing up in his office, sweaty and grimy after crawling one-handed through the mud, holding a semi-automatic to her chest with her other hand. Among other things.

Facing her fully as though she had earned his attention, Knuckles raised an eyebrow. ''Alright, what is it?''

''I just thought you should know that our drill instructor threw a grenade at your friend Sonic and me during today's drill.''

''Wh—''

''—Not a live grenade, mind you,'' Rouge added after a pause. ''It was a dummy. But what kind of nutcase throws a dummy grenade at his subordinates just to scare them half to death?''

Knuckles blinked at her once, twice, then plopped in his seat with a sigh. ''Sonic's ok?''

In different circumstances, Rouge wouldn't have taken a moment to appreciate how adorable it was to see their stoic commanding officer show concern for his friend. ''Yeah, he got over it in a blink. I did not appreciate that little stunt, though. We were talking for all of one minute, just getting each other pumped for the drill. Last time I checked, there are no regulations against that in the ASC code.''

''There aren't,'' Knuckles conceded. ''But there aren't any regulations against what that instructor did either. It's—Look, I hate to break it to you, but this kinda thing is fairly common.''

''A ringing endorsement of the organization we're all aiming to serve,'' Rouge commented flatly.

Knuckles let the comment slide, and rubbed the back of his neck as he launched into an explanation. ''The whole psychological warfare thing—calling recruits names, 'breaking' them...I never liked it, but it's always been a part of the military. To varying degrees depending on the officer, but...I'm sorry. If you came in thinking I could discharge him for that, I'm afraid I have to disappoint you. I can talk to him, sure, but that's more likely to make him worse.''

''Well, don't eat your heart out,'' Rouge turned up her chin, going back to her untouchable act. ''I can take it better than most people here, I just think it's unacceptable.''

''Yeah, it definitely wasn't my favourite thing about basic,'' Knuckles tried to smile.

It was a shame, Rouge thought, but there were other ways she could get that man discharged if she got creative about it. She shrugged both to Knuckles and to herself, tabling the idea for another time.

Before leaving, Rouge said: ''You should know, Shadow jumped on top of that grenade. If it'd been a real one, he would've saved us.''

''So there's more to him than being trigger-happy for the Amphaas. Duly noted.''

''It _means_ the ASC is going to have a very special player joining its ranks. Possibly a game changer.'' Satisfied ending their conversation with that line, Rouge turned on her heels, and sauntered out of the room as Knuckles griped about not having dismissed her.

Rouge smiled to herself, thinking that, when the game was rigged, it was up to someone like her to level the playing field.

*

After scarfing down his meal, Sonic sat thinking about the day's events. It took him all of a minute to conclude that he wanted to end his sort-of feud with Shadow, and that, in order to do that, Sonic needed to get Shadow alone to talk. 

His decision made, Sonic waited in the mess hall so as to not miss Shadow, who tended to wander off during free time. Sonic would catch him when Shadow came to eat, and latch on. Until then, he would subject everyone to the growing stench of his sweat-damp fatigues. 

When Shadow walked into the mess hall, Sonic decided to let him eat before going up to him, until sitting back and watching started to feel borderline creepy. Sonic then strolled over to Shadow's table, and slipped into the seat across from him. The final touch in Sonic's attempt to act casual was a simple ''hey.''

''I don't want your gratitude, faker,'' Shadow said without looking up from his food. ''The grenade was a dud.''

Sonic made it past Shadow's belligerent tone, and countered: ''It could've been the real thing! If it was, you would've saved our lives—and you did it even though you hate my guts and you were mad at Rouge—''

''Fine,'' Shadow cut in. ''Thank me, and move on.''

Sonic knew there was something beyond Shadow's standoffish attitude. He'd _seen_ it. Holding on to that thought gave Sonic the strength to persist. ''That's not all I want to say to you though! Can we talk in private?''

Shadow gave him a mild once-over, then looked around at the empty table. ''This is private enough, isn't it?''

''No!'' Sonic pressed his hands on the table, and leaned over to bore his eyes into Shadow's. He wasn't going to half-ass this, so the mess hall wasn't going to cut it. 

Shadow's heart lurched under Sonic's insistent stare as he found himself once more grappling with that weird feeling of déjà vu and longing for something that existed at the edge of his memory. Shadow had to avert his eyes. ''Fine. Let's take this somewhere else.''

''Good,'' Sonic beamed. Small victories and all that. ''Oh, but you can finish eating first.''

''Thanks for the permission.''

''I didn't mean it like—argh, talking to you is infuriating.''

''I'm not forcing your hand.''

After Shadow took his sweet time finishing his meal, he apprehensively followed Sonic out of the facility, to the field where the recruits did their morning calisthenics. Still within the facility grounds, but they were alone. 

It took Shadow all of ten seconds to become hyper-aware of that fact, because this was the first time he'd been alone with Sonic since the capture the flag game. This was different, too. Shadow didn't have an objective to focus on, to distract him. There was just Sonic and him sharing a private moment, which was enough to send Shadow's thoughts hurtling through a series of loops. 

''Will you tell me what you want now? I need to get some sleep.''

It was late, and, as usual, the recruits would be up before dawn. The stars twinkled overhead, and the howling of whatever creature prowled the night on Netherop could be heard from somewhere in the mountains. 

''Right, ok,'' Sonic said. ''First, I want to apologize for this morning. What I said..making you feel like I didn't take our training seriously. I know that this isn't a competition to you, I've seen how hard you work. I didn't mean to make light of that. I'm sorry.''

Having maintained a neutral expression as Sonic spoke, Shadow let out a short sigh towards the end. More than once, Sonic had struck him as being too childish to be here. Good-natured, yes, definitely, but also innocent. A bit too much. Sonic assuming he had hurt Shadow's feelings, and apologizing, painted the same portrait of a kid who mistook his environment. 

This wasn't a playground, and Shadow hadn't been hurting for an apology. While it was a nice sentiment, it didn't amount to much. 

''Apology accepted,'' Shadow conceded as he started to walk back inside. ''You didn't need to worry about—''

''I also want you to know that I'm serious about it, too!'' Sonic called after Shadow. ''Our training, our fight against the Amphaas, all of it.''

Shadow stopped, his back to Sonic as he continued talking: ''I know you got it in your head from the first time we talked that I'm clueless about the war, and that I'm not in it for the right reasons, but you're wrong. I know a lot of people in the outer colonies died, and I know that if the Amphaas find Earth—well, the people there are next. Earth is still so removed from the fight, though, and enlisting in the ASC is the only way to get close to it. So, that's what I did.''

Turning around to study Sonic's expression, Shadow listened with renewed attention. ''You're still removed from it,'' he said, although there was no edge to his voice. ''You say you want peace, but there will come a time where you will have to fight, and kill. You didn't join a peace march, you joined a war. Are you prepared to do what's necessary?''

It took Sonic a moment to answer. ''I don't know.''

To his own surprise, Shadow's temper didn't flare. He waited to hear more as Sonic seemed to be putting his thoughts together.

''I have trouble with the idea, I'll give you that,'' Sonic admitted after a while. ''The thing is, we know next to nothing about the Amphaas. We don't know their motivations, we don't know how many of them there are, or if they're all onboard with the anti-human crusade. I guess, when I signed on, part of me thought I'd have a chance of finding the truth for myself.''

''...That's commendable, I suppose,'' Shadow said. ''Not a lot of opportunities to ask questions in a firefight, though.''

Sonic resisted the urge to roll his eyes – Shadow really took him for an idiot, didn't he? ''I _know_. If I'm being shot at—or my squadmates, or anyone I'm supposed to protect—I'm not going to stop and ask the Amphaas what the food's like on their planet. And if every single one of them is hellbent on destroying humanity, then I'll—do what's necessary,'' Sonic borrowed Shadow's words. 

After a pause, Sonic added: ''But if there's a chance for it, if it turns out some of them are willing to make efforts towards ending the war peacefully? You bet your ass I'm going to meet them halfway. I don't care what you call me for it.''

Sonic stared Shadow down as though to hammer in his point. He had said his piece, the rest was up to Shadow. Sonic hadn't ever wished he could read someone's thoughts as badly as he did then.

Finally, turning his head away, Shadow said: ''For what it's worth...I'm sorry for calling you a faker. I respect your reason for being here.''

It didn't seem like much, but Sonic took the words as a giant leap forward. ''Apology accepted,'' he beamed. 

A certain measure of relief washed over Shadow as well, though he couldn't fathom why, nor would he ever admit it did. Maybe a part of him didn't take to being at odds with Sonic, and had been waiting anxiously for the day when they would take their first steps towards reconciliation. 

Shadow paused on that word. Reconciliation? Why had he thought that? Reconciling implied that the two of them had been something else before being enemies, before the feuding. ''I have a weird question to ask you...if that's ok.''

If there was ever a way to pique Sonic's interest, this was it. ''Go for it,'' he answered eagerly.

''Have we...met before?'' Shadow felt ridiculous the second the question left his mouth. The two of them had shared close quarters for months, but Shadow asked this now. It was like a very obvious, very pathetic attempt at a pick-up line. Somehow, Shadow still found the determination to press on: ''You look kind of familiar to me.''

Bless his heart – Sonic actually scrunched up his face in thought. ''Uhh...I don't think so?''

''Were you ever on holovision or something?'' It was a possibility that Shadow had simply seen Sonic's face somewhere without having met him in person. 

''Not to my knowledge. Have you ever been on Earth?''

Shadow shook his head. 

''Well, I'd never gone out to space until now...,'' Sonic said, trailing off. The implication that they couldn't possibly have met was clear enough.

Despite being the conclusion Shadow should have expected – _had_ expected to no small degree – he couldn't help feeling a twinge of frustration. Why was it that something in him seemed to respond to Sonic as though he was someone indescribably dear to him? 

Breaking the silence, Sonic said: ''Who knows, maybe we met in a past life.''

The idea, suggested rather casually, sat between them for a moment. Whether it was an honest suggestion or just a way to end the conversation on Sonic's part, Shadow decided that he had taken up enough of their time on the question.

''Maybe...,'' Shadow offered.

If nothing else, it was a nice thought.

''Let's head back in.''

* * *

2306 hours, May 24, 2552 (military calendar)

ASC Training Facility

Planet Netherop, Ephyra System

Sonic and I buried the hatchet. After talking to him, I actually felt a bit stupid for judging him so harshly. We're not all that different. If it wasn't for everything that happened on ARK, I probably would hold the same beliefs he does. Now, it's honestly tough to even remember what kind of person I was back then. Sonic hasn't lived my life, but I can't fault him for that. I don't wish that on him either. 

It's hard to get past what happened. The memory of the attack on ARK, of losing Maria, it haunts me every day. There's the rational part of my brain that understands what Sonic said, that doubts every single Amphaas has a death wish against humanity, that there must be some that want to make peace with us. I just have trouble imagining it. I can't picture being faced with one of them, and not being brought back to the day I lost everything. 

I never even gave this kind of thing a thought before I met Sonic, so that's something, I suppose. Being around him makes me second-guess myself. In a good way. I greeted Rouge when I got back, and she got so giddy she almost kissed me. I think she was just happy to see I wasn't mad at her anymore. 

As for her pet project, I'm still not interested, but she can look into it all she wants. If she could find out what happened in my past lives, though...now that might be interesting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I get that grenade scene from Captain America 1st Avenger? I sure did!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey gamers.
> 
> I know I've said this in the notes of the first chapter, but I feel the need to repeat myself. This fic was very much a challenge for me in many respects. I've got all but the last chapter written (which means that at this point, I'm not planning on making significant changes), and I know that it's not perfect. It's ultimately a rather short fanfic, in which time flows quickly. You might find that there aren't enough scenes between certain characters, or you might find something else that you wish I had done differently. Alas, 'tis not so. This is what I've written, and since you're reading it, I'm assuming you must enjoy it to some extent.
> 
> ALSO MUY MUY IMPORTANTE (very very important): in this chapter, I quote a line directly from a novel, so I've included the in-text citation, and **I'll write the full citation in the notes at the end**. So HUGE JUMBO DISCLAIMER: I did not write that part. 
> 
> Alright. 
> 
> Here's chapter three. Hope ya like it.

Since the beginning, even among the range of recruits who had joined the ASC training program for a number of different reasons, Rouge seemed to be the odd one out. At least, she would appear so to anyone who paid close enough attention. Although she never seemed to put her back into it, she performed well in drills. She was exceptionally well-informed on the war, but didn't show any kind of personal or emotional investment in it.

When asked why she had enlisted, and she _had_ been asked several times, she would reply that she did it for the money. One could certainly amass a small fortune provided they survived long enough, and rose through the ranks, but, there were easier ways for an intelligent woman like Rouge to achieve the same wealth.

Therefore, it would stand to reason that Rouge had a hidden agenda, but that wasn't quite it.

The short of it was that Rouge had miscalculated. It happened – she wasn't above making mistakes. She had underestimated her own curiosity and tendency to meddle.

She hadn't planned on the job taking more than a month at the most. She would get her employer the information they hired her to obtain, and would be off-planet faster than the ASC could say _we've been compromised._ Then, Rouge had gotten invested in a little, unofficial side project.

Upon meeting Shadow, Rouge had just known that there was something special about him. Finding out that he had been on ARK – more yet, was quite possibly the sole survivor of the attack on the space colony – proved her instincts had been right. The problem was that the true circumstances around the shutdown of ARK were so heavily-guarded that Rouge couldn't access any of the files related to it from this facility.

She could access the archives remotely thanks to a device of her own making, that she had managed to smuggle on the facility. The encryption on the ARK-related files, however, was too strong for the device's decryption software, meaning Rouge needed to access them manually.

It had been a lucky break that one of the files – a fifteen-second long clip showing what seemed like human soldiers returning fire on two Amphaas in a lab – hadn't been properly encrypted. She couldn't unlock the other files remotely. She needed to do it where the server was located, which happened to be the ASC's Fleet Command space station.

Even a spy of her caliber would be hard-pressed to infiltrate FLEETCOM, and so...she needed to stick out this training thing. Once she qualified for the intelligence division, she would most likely be assigned there.

Rouge sighed. This had to be the hardest she had ever worked, and she wasn't even getting paid for it. She had trouble understanding herself sometimes.

A gruff voice pulled Rouge from her thoughts: ''Are you even paying attention?''

Staff sergeant Knuckles gave Rouge an impatient look from one of the sparring rings in the free training room. ''You're the one who asked me to show you some combat techniques, and I agreed even though I can already hear the other recruits bitching about preferential treatment, the least you could do is—''

''I'm sorry, sarge,'' Rouge cooed, a convincingly contrite look on her face. ''I got distracted, but I'll pay attention from now on.''

Knuckles grumbled, but repeated the demonstration. As she watched him, Rouge thought that her situation wasn't all bad.

She had eye candy at least.

* * *

2212 hours, August 5, 2552 (military calendar)

ASC Training Facility

Planet Netherop, Ephyra System

Basic training is over. Just a little over half of the recruits who arrived six months ago are still here. It's their loss, because the real fun starts tomorrow. Advanced training is what's going to set us apart from other soldiers. We'll be studying the latest on the Amphaas: their weapons, their tactics, hell, maybe their biology. Whatever data the ASC has been able to gather, we're going to study it, and implement it in combat simulations.

It's not just that. Since this war has mostly been fought in space up until now, we're going to learn to fly fighter-class ships, and how to move in Zero-G. Sonic is really excited about the Zero-G simulations...I'd call him childish if I weren't looking forward to them, too.

Rouge wants to work for the Intelligence division, so her training is going to focus on tech and data analysis. I'm not worried about her. I know she'll be showing her instructors a thing or two in no time.

Basic honestly went by in a flash, and three months from now, we're all going to be shipped off to actually fight. I've waited so long for that moment.

I never expected that I'd want it to hold off a little longer.

* * *

> ''A quantity of liquefied carrier gas is passed through an electric arc, where it's stripped of electrons and transformed into a thermal plasma. Then it's confined inside a magnetic capsule and launched at the target'' (Denning, 253).

It turned out that advanced training wasn't all space combat simulations and strategy-focused lectures: mixed in were lectures on what the ASC had pieced together about the Amphaas' engineering – their weapons, their ships, their equipment, how they all functioned. At least, how the ASC engineers and scientists believed they functioned. The lectures were much more technical than usual, and that didn't speak to all the recruits the same way.

For example, Shadow found it interesting, while Sonic had dozed off in the seat beside him. Shadow glanced down at him with disbelief painted on his face.

Sonic had made folded his arms on the table so he could rest his head, and had drifted right off, as though they were listening to a high school history lesson.

Shadow had the choice to wake Sonic up, or to let his dumb ass miss the lecture. He was fairly certain that Sonic would prefer the latter, and would argue that the lecture itself was pointless; which, in a sense, it was. It was very unlikely that the recruits would ever get to apply this knowledge, but Shadow believed that having a basic understanding of their enemy's technology was important.

''Although we're beginning to understand how their plasma weapons function, we can't build our own. We don't have the magnetic stabilization technology,'' their instructor continued his lecture, oblivious to the one recruit snoozing away. ''It's one reason why recovering any piece of Amphaas weaponry or equipment is high-priority.''

Shadow's eyes snapped back to the instructor as he realized that he'd been so caught up concerning himself about Sonic that he had stopped paying attention.

_Let the idiot sleep_ , Shadow concluded, in a hurry to gloss over the fact that Sonic could so easily distract him. _It's his loss._

Around half a minute later, Shadow's gaze drifted back over to Sonic as he sighed softly in his sleep.

Since meeting Sonic, Shadow had stolen enough glances at him to fill a Jane Austen novel, yet here was an opportunity to stare at Sonic sight unseen, and to his heart's desire. Shadow expertly dodged the questions his brain tried to throw at him about what all the staring implied. It was something that Shadow had had a lot of practice doing.

There wasn't much to see given that Sonic was slumped over the table, but his left hand stuck out under his right elbow, and his fingers were slightly twitching. _He's probably dreaming,_ Shadow thought as he tilted his head to get a better look at Sonic's expression.

Anything to ignore the part of his mind that wrestled with the idea of reaching out to touch Sonic's hand.

That was when Sonic decided to start snoring. A light snore, not loud enough to be heard by anyone besides the recruits sitting immediately adjacent to Sonic. Shadow heard one of them chuckle, whereas he found the situation far from amusing as he emerged from what could arguably be described as a trance.

Deciding that he had had enough of this nonsense, Shadow gave a swift kick to Sonic's legs to wake him up, before turning his eyes back to the instructor with the intention of being laser-focused on the rest of the lecture.

Sonic raised his head with a groggy: ''Whu...?''

Then, looking around, his expression turned petulant. ''Why'd you have to wake me up, Shadow?''

''Shut up and pay attention,'' Shadow answered without looking at him.

''A fine morning to you, too.''

When Shadow resisted the urge to retort that they had been up for hours, Sonic reluctantly settled down, and turned his attention to the lecture.

Within five minutes, he was dozing off again.

*

''You're doing it again.''

Their morning drills done, and the lecture over, the recruits were released for lunch. Shadow had glimpsed Rouge quickly wave at him before she slithered her way through the crowd – off to have lunch with the staff sergeant no doubt. Shadow really had to admire how little Rouge cared about jealous gossip.

Shadow met Sonic's pointed stare. ''Doing what?''

''Treating me like an idiot,'' Sonic answered. ''Like I don't bother paying attention to anything around me.''

''Did you or did you not just fall asleep in the middle of a lecture?''

'' _One_ lecture, yeah, on possibly the most boring topic in the universe.''

''Right,'' Shadow rolled his eyes. ''And you don't at all sound like a child right now.''

Sonic felt his face burn as he resisted the urge to drag Shadow by the hair so he could toss him down a cliff. Months had passed since the two of them had taken their first step towards getting along better, yet Shadow hadn't changed much. Admittedly, he didn't actively aggravate Sonic anymore, but it remained clear that Sonic hadn't earned Shadow's respect.

Sonic confronting Shadow back in May might have earned him a smidgen, and maybe Shadow looked at Sonic's physical prowess with a measure of approval, but that was it. Shadow still looked down on him, and Sonic wouldn't stand for it.

That being said, Sonic knew that words would ring hollow if he tried defending himself with them. The only viable option was to prove that he was worthy of Shadow's respect through his actions.

Shadow couldn't hold back a sigh as they reached the mess hall. Trained military or not, the recruits, who were primarily people hardly into their twenties, were loud as soon as their environment allowed it. The shouts, bursts of laughter, and the constant thrum of voices still grated on Shadow's ears despite becoming a constant in his life.

Battlefields weren't quiet places, though, and so Shadow tolerated the noise in the mess hall. He did his best to tolerate it, anyway.

''What's with the sigh?'' Sonic asked. ''And the crabby look on your face.''

''That's just how I normally look,'' Shadow replied flatly. ''It's called resting bitch face, Sonic.''

Sonic poorly stifled a laugh. ''Fair point, but something's different. I can tell.''

Shadow weighed arguing with Sonic against admitting he was right, and the latter would probably involve Sonic pestering him less. ''It's the noise in here,'' Shadow conceded.

''Oh. Let's just eat somewhere else, then,'' Sonic immediately suggested.

''No, I should be able to handle this much—''

''—yeah, yeah, you're very dedicated,'' Sonic cut in. ''Let's just get our food and go, I know the perfect place.''

Surprisingly, Shadow didn't smack Sonic upside the head on his way to take a seat, instead obediently following Sonic as he lead them out of the mess hall.

*

''So, do you only get your freak on during shore leave?''

Against all odds, Rouge was making headway with the gruff-yet-soft-hearted staff sergeant, who was now willing to ignore chain of command decorum to have lunch with a subordinate. The two of them had even moved past the first date type of conversation – where are you from? Do you have siblings? All the boring stuff that Rouge honestly cared very little about.

Well—alright, it was nice to listen to Knuckles talk about his family on account of how wistful and loving his voice became, but Rouge's thirst could only be deterred for so long.

''Do you ever get your head out of the gutter?''

Unfortunately, Knuckles was also getting used to Rouge's shameless questions, which meant that Rouge couldn't relish in seeing him flustered as much as before.

''Excuse you,'' Rouge countered, ''I'm asking an innocent question as a concerned friend. Maintaining a healthy sex life is—''

''O-kay,'' Knuckles cut her sentence short. ''Topic change now.''

Rouge looked at him with a convincingly concerned expression. ''You're so tense...! How about I go fetch Sonic and Shadow so they can join us, and we can all have a relaxed conversation like mature adults.''

''You mean so Sonic can blab about my personal life?''

Although Knuckles had seen right through her, Rouge didn't falter. Shaking her head, she said: ''Tense and so distrustful. You really need to wind down with some friends. I'll be back in just a sec'.''

Rouge ducked out of the room before Knuckles could protest, and started walking to the mess hall. She spotted Sonic and Shadow as they were heading out, but before she called out to them, she noticed the drill instructor follow them out.

Rouge quietly followed suit, until she confirmed that the drill instructor tailed Sonic and Shadow all the way outside the facility. She flattened herself against the wall, listening closely as the instructor spoke into a transmitter: ''He went outside with another recruit. I'm sending out a drone.''

Rouge had to squint to see the humming bird-sized drone that the instructor sent out after Sonic and Shadow.

''It's the second time,'' the drill instructor continued. ''Yeah, it was the same recruit the first time.''

A pause, then: ''No, he seems clean, but Shadow seems to talk more around him.''

Another pause. ''Yes, sir. I'll contact you if there's a change.''

Dread settled in Rouge's stomach as she waited for the drill instructor to leave, and a dozen things ran through her mind. One, Shadow was being monitored; two, the drill instructor had to be reporting to someone higher up the chain of command; three, Rouge might have put a target on her back when she reported the instructor to Knuckles; four, Knuckles couldn't be in on this, could he?

Taking in a deep breath, Rouge told herself to think rationally. The probability of Knuckles being the one on the other side of that transmission was negligible, given that he was on-site and didn't need to be contacted remotely when the drill instructor could report to him directly in his office. Not to mention that a staff sergeant wasn't nearly high-ranked enough to pull strings in a military-wide conspiracy, which was exactly what this was starting to look like to Rouge.

First, the ASC covered up the real reason why ARK shut down, and now they were running surveillance on the sole survivor of the attack on the colony? Something big was up. Something way too risky for Rouge to get herself involved out of pure curiosity.

Out of concern for Shadow, on the other hand...

Rouge put the thought out of mind. The safest thing to do was probably to watch the situation from afar for the time being, or so Rouge convinced herself.

In her best attempt to shake off the last ten minutes, Rouge plastered a fake smile on her face as she returned to Knuckles' office, and pretended that she hadn't found Sonic and Shadow.

*

''I don't know that we're allowed to leave the facility grounds,'' Shadow pointed out as he followed Sonic across the mountain range.

''Pff,'' was Sonic's response. ''It's not that far.''

Carrying their packaged rations, Sonic and Shadow walked around ten minutes under the hot Netherop suns until they reached a cave, the entrance to which was fairly small, and hard to discern against the mountain side.

Sonic gestured for Shadow to follow him in the cave, and Shadow answered him with a wordless stare. Sonic rolled his eyes. ''Trust me, will ya? You won't regret it.''

''I'm sure I will,'' Shadow replied, although he trailed behind Sonic as Sonic picked his way through the cave.

''Should be right...Oh, there!'' Sonic pointed to an even smaller passage cut right into the cave wall. ''It's right through there.''

Shadow didn't budge as he stared cautiously at the passage. ''What is?''

''A place you can never escape from,'' Sonic answered, his voice dripping with sarcasm. ''Just—ugh, just listen closely.''

When Shadow complied, he was met with blissful silence, until he noticed the faintest sound of running water. He blinked, and looked at Sonic. ''A river?''

Sonic didn't answer, instead pointing once more towards the cave passage.

''...Fine,'' Shadow said. ''After you.''

Halfway through the passage, Shadow saw that there was sunlight on the other side, and pressed on to emerge on a grassy clifftop along the side of the mountain. His mesmerized gazed swept the surroundings until they landed on a waterfall that gently cascaded down a series of flat protrusions in the mountainside into a pool of clear water. The excess water weaved between a bed of rocks at the edge of the cliff, where it then fell to the sea below.

A few trees that vaguely resembled palm trees stood spread out on the cliff, and provided a bit of shade. Shadow tried to wrap his mind around the logic of how such a place could exist, succeeding only in giving himself a headache.

''Pretty cool, huh?'' Sonic said as he turned to face Shadow. ''I don't think the ASC is aware that this place exists. Probably for the best, I'd hate for them to bother these little guys.''

Shadow blinked twice, and that was when he began to spot them – colourful, cantaloupe-sized creatures with round, floating appendages above their head. Two of them were splashing about in the water, one of them was eagerly digging in a fruit, and another was lying on the grass, snoring faintly.

His voice filled with awe, Shadow asked: ''Aren't those...chao?''

''Yep!'' Sonic grinned at Shadow, who actually looked surprised for once. ''Cute, aren't they?''

''I...I've only read about them,'' Shadow replied slowly as he continued to take in the sight. ''I didn't think they were real.''

Caught up in staring at Shadow's openly marveling expression, Sonic took a moment to reply. ''They—uh,'' Sonic paused, then tried again: ''They tend to stay hidden. Other species tend to be too chaotic for them.''

Shadow's gaze followed one of the chaos in the water as it hopped out to run over to Sonic, while the other floated in place, looking between Sonic and Shadow curiously. The chao cooed blissfully when Sonic reached down to pats its head. ''They seem fine around you,'' Shadow stated partly as a question.

A bashful chuckle leaving his lips, Sonic said: ''Yeah, well, it's entirely too easy to win their affection. I found this place on accident during a run, and—''

''A run?'' Shadow's tone lied somewhere between admiring and dumbfounded as to where Sonic got the extra energy. ''You run on your own, even though we already do so much of it in training?''

''Hah, that's different,'' Sonic answered. ''I like running at my own pace to explore and get a lay of the land wherever I am. So, I stumble onto this dope cave, and since I can't resist a good adventure, I go in and wander around until I hear water, head through the passage, and here I am. The chao initially hid from me, but I had a hunch this was a chao garden, so I sat around and waited. Eventually, the chao started to wander over.''

Sonic finished his story by picking up the chao at his feet. ''Anyway, I thought we could eat here! It's super peaceful.''

Shadow would be lying if he said he wasn't impressed at Sonic for finding a chao garden – generally considered myths – not two miles out of a military facility, as well as having befriended the chao living there. Shadow caught the chao in Sonic's arms tilting its head up to look at him as though wondering _new friend? new friend??_

''I don't know that we have that much time left...,'' Shadow hesitated as the chao's big, round eyes reached into his soul, ''but, sure...''

Beaming, Sonic sat on the grass, putting the chao down beside him as he retrieved his ration.

The chao waddled away while Shadow sat down next to Sonic.

Ten minutes rolled by while the two of them sat and ate in blessed silence, watching the chao play together in the garden. Shadow drew in a long breath, suddenly awash with an ease so tremendous he probably could have fallen asleep if he just closed his eyes.

Instead Shadow stole a glance at Sonic, who had made this moment possible; who looked less suited to war than ever as a chao climbed up his back; who kept pace with the back-and-forth that was Shadow's social skills; whose presence, however infuriating, Shadow simply could not ignore.

There was still a part of Shadow's mind that insisted he'd known Sonic before – maybe in another lifetime – but Shadow paid less and less attention to it, as the Sonic who stood beside him in the moment continue to etch himself a place in Shadow's heart.

_You're amazing._ The words hung on Shadow's lips, but he remained quiet.

''So...,'' in between bites of food, an oblivious Sonic spoke up, ''not good around noisy crowds?''

First, Shadow had to shake off whatever sentimental spell had come over him a moment ago. He then fixed his eyes on the pool of water, and offered a curt reply: ''It was a lot quieter on ARK.''

''Were there many people living onboard?''

Shadow shook his head. ''It was a research colony. There were a team of scientists, a handful of ASC soldiers assigned to defend the colony, and a hundred-odd people to keep it stocked and running.''

It was rare to hear Shadow talk about his past, so Sonic tried not to sound overeager as he asked: ''What was life like there?''

The odd thing was that Shadow found he didn't mind all the questions, nor did he hesitate too long to answer them. ''I'm told that my mother had a disease that the scientists on ARK were researching to find a cure. She died giving birth, so the scientists ended up taking care of me, which wasn't as bad as it sounds.''

Struck with a sense of privilege that Shadow would open up to him this way, Sonic drank in the even sound of Shadow's voice as he recalled his childhood on ARK.

''The lead scientist had a daughter named Maria,'' Shadow said. ''There were other kids onboard, but we played together the most. Maria had the same disease as my mother, so her health had to be monitored constantly. Meanwhile, I had to get check-ups all the time too, since the scientists were worried I'd inherited the illness, and that it just hadn't manifested yet. It helped Maria and I a lot to know that we were going through something similar. Made us a lot closer.''

It didn't take a genius to pick up on the signs that this story didn't have a happy ending. Shadow's use of the past tense in describing Maria, combined with his hatred of the Amphaas, and his emotional investment in the war...Sonic was able to connect the dots himself.

''I'm glad you had each other...,'' Sonic said softly.

As though rewarding Sonic for his discretion, Shadow gave him a small smile. ''Thank you.''

Sonic felt his face burn again, though it wasn't from wanting to throw Shadow down a cliff this time. Smiling nervously, Sonic averted his gaze, and pretended to be engrossed in watching the chao.

Perfectly content with the silence, Shadow didn't wonder why Sonic made no other attempts at a conversation.

Until then, Shadow hadn't thought that reminiscing about the past could be so soothing.

_He really is amazing._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HERE IS THE CITATION:
> 
> Denning, Troy. _Silent Storm (A Master Chief Story)_. Gallery books, 2018.
> 
> You guessed it, it's a Halo novel (and a really good one that I definitely recommend getting your hands on if you're a Halo fan.) I used the quote because honestly? Out the top of my head? I couldn't think of a better way of describing the pseudo-science of plasma weapons.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey gamers.
> 
> So, I'm going to repeat what I've wrote in response to a string of comments that had virtually nothing to do with the fanfic because I think the message needs to be spread. This may come off a bit preachy, but I've been writing fanfiction for over a decade, so I'm well past the point of caring. 
> 
> Fanfiction writers put in hours upon hours of work to bring these stories to you. It's always partly because we want to, because we had an idea in our head that we wanted to get out, _but_ it's also always because we wish for _some_ kind of response. We want people to enjoy what we wrote, and to tell us what it is they enjoyed about it! Feedback keeps us going, because even if we had this idea stuck in our head in the beginning, and the urge to write, that urge tends to fizzle out after a while. When that happens, it's the positive/helpful comments we've received that give us the motivation we need to keep writing. 
> 
> Over the years, I've kinda noticed that a lot of people don't seem to know _how_ to comment, and that prevents them from doing so. I'm here to tell you that it is easy as ABC! All you should do is point out something (or several things!) you liked in the chapter, be it a line of dialogue, a specific scene, or any other detail. You can also tell us how a certain part made you feel. The comment doesn't have to be super long or entirely coherent (ashdouhfwe can be a feeling!), but just a little goes a long way.
> 
> Alright, spiel over. 
> 
> Here's that damn fourth chapter (lmao) (please _please_ get the reference)

2220 hours, November 4, 2552 (military calendar)

ASC Training Facility

Planet Netherop, Ephyra System

This is it. Our last day of training is tomorrow, and we're getting our orders the day after.

This is all I could think about while I was recovering. The thought of fighting the Amphaas is the only thing that kept me going through my grief. It gave me purpose when nothing seemed to matter, when life didn't make sense anymore. I thought that getting revenge for Maria and for everyone on ARK was the reason I survived. I needed to hold on to that belief, and I never looked beyond it.

Now the time has come, and I almost...

I just don't know anymore.

* * *

The past three months had been more fun than one would imagine an advanced military training program could ever be.

Shadow's days had been filled with challenges, playful competition, and an ever-growing fondness for the people around him – namely Sonic and Rouge, but Shadow had grown to be less impersonal with his squad as well.

Sonic and Shadow visited the chao garden nearly every day during those three months. Shadow had almost cried the first time a chao climbed onto his lap, though he continued to deny it.

When the last day of the training program came, Shadow found himself in the garden on his own, looking out at Netherop, and wishing he didn't have to leave.

He was never going to admit that either.

''Thought I'd find you here.''

Shadow didn't have to turn to know that it was Sonic, who walked over to stand beside Shadow.

''Getting emotional all by yourself now that we're leaving?''

It took Shadow a moment to get the words out. ''I'm going to miss this place.''

''We can always come back,'' Sonic said. ''I don't think there are rules against it.''

''It won't be the same...,'' Shadow's voice was almost inaudible.

A breeze set in, rustling the leaves of the odd palm tree-looking trees in the garden. Netherop's two suns hung low; the recruits – well, soldiers officially – had been dismissed early.

Sonic made a commendable effort not to let his emotions get the better of him, but his voice still wavered a bit as he said: ''Ok, listen, can we at least get drunk before we get all sad and deep? Knuckles was able to get us the rum. Officer perks.''

Shadow let out a short laugh. ''Lead the way.''

The two of them doubled back towards the facility, where Rouge and Knuckles were waiting for them. Rouge waved them over, then motioned towards the warthog idling beside them. She seemed to be almost shaking with excitement as she said: ''Get in, boys, we're going for a good old-fashioned drunken romp on the beach.''

Knuckles took the wheels while the other three piled in the warthog. He drove a good distance along the beach to leave some space between them and the other soldiers who would most likely be heading down to the beach to celebrate the end of their training. Knuckles would prefer they didn't see him drinking with the three recruits to whom he had been constantly accused of giving preferential treatment.

Not to mention that this was his last chance to spend time with...certain people who would be assigned at FLEETCOM. Knuckles glanced over at Rouge, who had slipped in the passenger seat without yelling shotgun.

''Eyes on the road, sarge,'' Rouge was looking forward, but there was a knowing smirk on her face.

Knuckles almost snapped his neck turning back towards the road, and his face took on a bright shade of red.

Once they reached the far side of the beach, Knuckles parked the warthog where the shore met with the brush of the forest. Sonic and Rouge immediately hopped out, kicking off their boots and running towards the water.

Unable to stop them, Knuckles yelled after them: ''You're _trained_ soldiers—help me put up the damn tent!''

Since acid rainfall were always a possibility on Netherop, and since they weren't going to be fully decked out in their fatigues and helmet, Knuckles had taken the appropriate measures to ensure they didn't die a horrible death like a group of rowdy college students in a survival horror movie. He had brought a tent made of reinforced tarp to provide them with shelter, and a barometer-type device that tracked acidity levels in the air.

''I'll help,'' Shadow said as he joined Knuckles in unfurling the tent.

''Thanks,'' Knuckles huffed. ''Those two are lucky to have us.''

A smile pulled at Shadow's lips. ''Tell me about it.''

While Shadow and Knuckles pitched the tent, Sonic and Rouge had the audacity to stroll on back to the warthog where they helped themselves to drinks from the cooler.

Sonic had already dressed down to just his pants and undershirt, and wet sand clung to his feet. ''Can you believe we've been here nine months, and this is the first time we've actually gotten to enjoy the beach?''

''The military's no party,'' Rouge shook her head disapprovingly as she savoured a sip of spiced rum.

''You two are really going to stand there and not help, huh,'' Knuckles grumbled. ''You got the other side, Shadow?''

''All good here.''

Knuckles backed away with a satisfied huff. ''Alright, who's up for a swim?''

The afternoon stretched on as the four of them allowed themselves the luxury of being carefree, and to forget that come the next day, such an opportunity wouldn't come again.

When the suns began to dip towards the horizon, the party mood simmered down, and Rouge joined Knuckles were he sat looking at the waves. Shaking the sand out of her hair, she let out a sigh. ''This afternoon barely felt real,'' she said, surprised at how wistfully her voice came out.

''You didn't get a lot of chances to relax in the last nine months,'' Knuckles concurred. He had taken off his undershirt, and his dog tag caught the sunlight.

''It's not just that,'' Rouge hummed. ''It's the mood. I can't really explain it.''

Rouge pointed her chin towards Sonic and Shadow, who were a ways away, walking side by side along the shore. ''Shadow looks so peaceful for once. It feels like today happened in some kind of pocket dimension.''

''Wow...that's deep.''

''Oh, shut up,'' Rouge grinned, and pushed Knuckles lightly. ''You don't have one romantic fiber in you.''

Knuckles hesitated, then said: ''I don't know about that.''

Fully turning towards him, Rouge raised an eyebrow. ''What does that mean?''

''Promise not to laugh?''

''I promise,'' Rouge answered eagerly. ''I'll pinky-swear if I have to.''

Knuckles chuckled at that, his cheeks tinted red. ''Alright, so it's kind of embarrassing, but...I actually was kind of hoping it would rain while we were out here, then we'd get under the tent for shelter, and—well—you know.''

''It would've been romantic?''

''Y-yeah, that.''

Rouge resisted pointing out to Knuckles that he was quite possibly the most adorable man in the world, instead, wry smile tugging at her lips, she said: ''But wouldn't Sonic and Shadow also be in there with us?''

''In my head, they find shelter somewhere else,'' Knuckles replied easily.

''Of course.'' Rouge threw another sidelong glance at Sonic and Shadow, who looked very small in the distance. ''Well, we're alone now, and it might not be raining acid, but you've done a pretty good setting the mood all the same.''

Knuckles struggled to meet her gaze. ''I have...?''

Rouge nodded emphatically, then lowered her voice to a sultry whisper. ''How about you show me what happened next in this little fantasy of yours?''

The forward comment almost made Knuckles laugh then as he thought that Rouge was nothing if not consistent. She wasn't going to suddenly become shy after nine months of shameless flirting, and Knuckles didn't blame her. Holding back hadn't been as easy as he had made it seem.

Rouge would head off to FLEETCOM tomorrow, and be put under the command of another officer. She was no longer his subordinate, but she was leaving, and this moment was the only chance Knuckles had.

Knuckles leaned in, and tried not to think of it as bittersweet as he pressed a kiss to Rouge's lips.

*

Neither of them talked as they walked along the shore, the waves lapping at their feet. Although Sonic had been chattering until a moment ago, content with his silent audience, he seemed to have grown contemplative in the warm, orange glow of the Netherop sunset.

Sonic walked a few steps ahead before he realized that Shadow had stopped to stare out at the shimmering water.

''This is the horizon...,'' Shadow whispered to himself as he took it all in – the streaks of red and pink and orange in the sky, the glowing suns as they seemed to sink in the brilliant waves. The suns, far out in space, and the ocean way down below, planetside. An immeasurable distance stood between them, yet they could come together like this.

Shadow thought of someone who was also an immeasurable distance away from him, and asked: ''Isn't it beautiful...?''

Sonic spoke up hesitantly. ''Shadow...? You alright?''

Shadow sighed deeply, then turned to Sonic with a smile. ''Yes, sorry about that.''

''Hey, no worries,'' Sonic grinned. Looking at the sunset, he added: ''Not what you'd call a bad sight, huh?''

Maybe it was the bit of alcohol that Shadow had drunk, maybe it was what the sunset was doing to his emotions, maybe it was the culmination of nine months spent relearning happiness, but Shadow's heart swelled as he looked at Sonic.

Maybe they couldn't have this moment again, but they could have others like it. If there was even a single chance for that, then Shadow didn't want to miss it.

''Sonic?''

Still looking at the sunset, Sonic said: ''Yeah?''

''After the war is over, you'll go home to Earth, won't you?''

The question seemed to startle Sonic, whose voice was almost forlorn when he answered: ''Oh, um, yeah. I guess so.''

''Will you let me come with you?''

Sonic blinked, turning to Shadow with wide eyes, and his heart hammering in his chest. ''You would...want that?''

Shadow nodded.

Sonic couldn't tell exactly when he had started hoping to hear those words from Shadow, to hear that Shadow wanted to keep seeing him after the war, that he wanted them to stay together. Sonic had dreamed of a life with Shadow so often that it seemed as though he always had, since before they had even met.

A wide smile spread on his face as Sonic said: ''Yes, of course you can come home with me! We'll go to Earth and we'll raise some chaos together, and it'll be amazing!''

As though there had been the slightest chance of Sonic rejecting him, Shadow felt relief wash over him.

Then, as that future filled with hope and baby chaos and Sonic crystallized in Shadow's mind, he gazed at Sonic tenderly. ''It'll be amazing.''

* * *

1300 hours, November 6, 2552 (military calendar)

ASC prowler-class ship

Deep Space, Rosetta Nebula

It almost feels weird being in space after all that time spent somewhere with an atmosphere. Sonic and I got to see Netherop from space being we jumped to slipspace, and Sonic said that he can't wait for me to see Earth. It's ridiculous how happy he can make me just by saying a few words. I should do something about it or I'll be a sentimental fool like he is in no time.

Saying goodbye to Rouge before we left Netherop was more difficult than I thought it would be. She may be a busybody and a flirt, but she's also loyal and courageous. I'm proud to call her my friend.

She hadn't mentioned her detective project at all in the past few months, but just before we left, she hugged me, and whispered to me that I shouldn't trust anyone in the ASC. I don't know if she was just trying to make a dramatic exit or what, but it's hard not to let that kind of warning get to your head.

I really don't have the luxury of worrying about internal conspiracies right now. I'm on ship on its way to an outer colony that's been under repeated attacks from the Amphaas.

This is what I've been waiting for, what I've prepared for, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous. I'm also worried about Sonic, if he'll be able to fight. Hesitation gets you killed on a battlefield. At least, he'll have me to watch his back.

* * *

The Allied Space Corps' Fleet Command Station, otherwise known as FLEETCOM, orbited around Earth, and Rouge couldn't deny that it felt comforting to see Ol' Blue again. She would be down there soon, sipping margaritas on the beach with her sweetheart, who had tried his damnedest (but failed) not to get misty-eyed when they had to part ways.

Nonetheless, Rouge had a job to finish. She was finally somewhere she could get the answers she wanted, so this was the time to start poking around again.

It gnawed at her that she had only given Shadow a vague warning about the ASC, but, given how little she knew as of that moment, she felt it had been the safest choice.

Rouge reminded herself that Sonic and Knuckles were on that ship with him, two people Shadow could trust. Beyond that, she had to believe that Shadow could look out for himself.

Unsurprisingly, dancing around the officers posted at FLEETCOM was the toughest part of the job, but Rouge had years of experience as a spy, on top of nine months of legitimate military training. All that to say that Rouge was not unprepared.

Some sweet talk here, an oversight there, a lot of time spent pretending she was actually doing her job, complete with a good measure of sneaking around, and Rouge had access to the ASC Archives' server.

This was it.

*

Being on a prowler-class ship – a smaller vessel built for insertion ops and stealth – wasn't doing Sonic any favours. He already missed the open space on Netherop, and Earth, of course, but he'd been missing those for nine months.

Thankfully, it wasn't all bad. Sonic had been dispatched along with Shadow, Knuckles, and a number of the recruits in his old squad. Knuckles may have gone into serious sergeant mode the second they had climbed aboard the ship, but Sonic and his squadmates were packed in the tiny mess hall playing cards and goofing off.

The sliding hatch to the mess hall hissed open, and Sonic looked up to see Shadow walk in. Sonic stood up from the game and walked over to Shadow immediately. ''How was it?''

Shadow smiled as though he found Sonic's concern endearing. ''Just a checkup. I had them all the time when I was recovering after what happened on ARK. They want to make sure I'm good to fight, and won't go into flight mode when I see an Amphaas again.''

''So, it's a psych eval?''

''I suppose, though they also check my vitals.'' Shadow looked over Sonic's shoulder. ''Playing cards?''

''Yeah, you want in?''

''Sure.''

Shadow was greeted warmly by the members of his squad as he walked over, when the ship lights blinked off and were replaced by the emergency lights.

The mess hall bathed in an ominous, red glow as the disembodied voice of the ship's onboard AI came over the comm: ''Several enemy ships inbound. All hands report to your battle stations.''

Confused chatter rose over the group of soldiers. ''Have they _seen_ us?''

''I thought this was a stealth ship...!''

Shadow rose his voice to speak above the commotion: ''Enough talk. Get to the weapons locker, then report to your battle stations. Be prepared for anything.''

While the soldiers snapped to crunch mode, Shadow turned to Sonic. ''Stay close to me.''

Sonic nodded. ''Let's get our weapons and find out what's going on.''

The two of them were on the flight deck three minutes and a half later, yet the situation seemed to have worsened considerably in that time. The ship suddenly rocked, almost knocking Sonic off his feet. It seemed they were under fire.

The captain stood next to the navigator, teeth gritted as he ordered evasive maneuvers.

Glancing at the sensor operator's screen, Shadow could see that there were three enemy ships in close range – too close for a slipspace jump. It would be all too easy for the enemy to tail them through the portal, ultimately achieving nothing but diverting energy from their shield. ''How did they find us?''

''Stealth module malfunction,'' the captain answered quickly. A sheen of sweat covered his face. ''Unluckiest break in my whole damn career.''

''How are we doing fighting them off?''

The captain barked another order before replying to Shadow. ''It's not looking good. A prowler isn't meant for dogfights, and Amphaas ships are—''

The ship rocked again, immediately followed by the sound of alarms blaring.

''Sir!'' One of the crewmen shouted. ''Hull breach on the lower deck!''

''Chaos...,'' the captain muttered. ''Alert all personnel to evacuate that deck ASAP, then seal it off.''

At that moment, the AI's voice announced: ''Boarding party detected in lower deck.''

A hush fell over the flight deck, and the captain grew pale. Then, quietly, he said: ''That's it, then. Alert all hands to head for the escape shuttles. We're abandoning ship.''

Gripping his weapon tightly, and scowling at the captain, Shadow exclaimed: ''What? We can head down there and deal with the boarding—''

''Private, I will deal with your insubordination later, because I don't have the time right now. They've got two more ships worth of soldiers after this one: this is a losing battle, and you know it as well as I do.'' The captain turned to transfer the AI from its console to a data chip.

''The last thing we can allow those aliens to do is take over the ship, and extract data from our AI,'' the captain continued, waving the data chip, ''but the _best_ thing we can do is blow up the ship, and take a few of those suckers down with it. Now get your ass to a shuttle.''

Sonic tugged on Shadow's arm. ''Come on, Shadow. Let's make sure everyone gets to a shuttle safely.''

If nothing else, the slight hint of fear in Sonic's voice made Shadow comply, and the both of them took off.

After a mad scramble through the ship rounding up all the personnel they could while the alarms blared and the AI counted down the minutes to the self-destruct sequence, Shadow and Sonic made it to the prowler's small hangar, where a good portion of the crew had already converged.

''Sonic! Shadow!''

Knuckles was standing by the hatch, presumably keeping a head count. Tremendous relief showed on his face as he spotted Sonic and Shadow approaching. ''I'm glad you're ok. The Amphaas have already made it past the lower deck.''

Sonic felt the same relief at seeing his friend safe. ''Were you there?''

''Yeah, trying to get everyone out.''

''Any casualties?'' Shadow asked.

Knuckles nodded somberly. ''They bought us the chance to fight another day. Let's not waste it.''

The last of the crew, including the captain, made it to the hangar while Knuckles, Sonic, and Shadow stood guard. The three of them were the last to get into an escape shuttle, piling in just as the hatch to the hangar blew open.

Shadow had always wondered how he would react when he would see Amphaas soldiers again. His first guess was always that he would fly into a rage, and go down shooting like the beefy, armed-to-the-teeth protagonist in an action movie.

The irony faintly occurred to Shadow when he reacted in the opposite way completely.

Everything around Shadow slowed down, and he calmly looked between the four or so Amphaas who had breached the hangar, and the console necessary to launch the escape shuttles.

If that console took damage, the shuttle wouldn't launch.

''Sonic...Thank you.''

Shadow hopped out of the shuttle.

In the second before the hatch slid shut, Shadow spoke over his shoulder. ''Goodb—''

Wide-eyed and frozen in place as the shuttle hatch closed, Sonic suddenly sprang to action, scrambling to the hatch and pounding on it until his hands bled, struggling when Knuckles stepped forward to pull him back. ''No, no—LET GO!''

Knuckles held fast, looking both resolute and heartbroken. ''I'm sorry, Sonic...''

Sonic continued to struggle. ''Someone get this open— _SHADOW!_ ''

And then, the shuttle launched.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> >:3c


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, gamers.
> 
> Here's the second-to-last chapter. I'm posting it a day after my last update since I feel bad about the cliffhanger, hehe.
> 
> Up until now updates were like 1-3 days in between each other, but I have not written the last chapter yet, **so I can't say when I'll post it.** But I can say that I've already started working on it, so ya just gotta be patient!
> 
> I wanna extend an early thank you to the few people who made the effort to comment. That last chapter is happening in no small part thanks to your support!

_There was Earth miles and miles below, so big underneath him that it looked like he was falling backwards into the sky. His eyes were beginning to close, his body beginning to go cold as the energy around him died off._

_He didn't mind – honestly. He was fulfilling a promise, and he was giving his life for the people he loved. He was giving them a chance to be happy._

_It did hurt, a bit, that he wouldn't get that same chance._

_''I've got you.''_

_Suddenly he was aglow in that energy again as someone held him close._

_''You're going to live, Shadow.''_

_His eyes opened to see the warmest smile he'd ever seen. Golden as day._

_''We're going home.''_

* * *

A feeling of warmth lingered in Shadow as he began to stir awake, and he thought that death wasn't so bad after all. Peaceful. Not unlike an old friend's embrace. Hopefully it had been that way for Maria, too.

His lips moved, calling out a different name.

_''Open your eyes, young one. Come back to us.''_

It took Shadow a moment to realize that the voice, booming and dissonant, was coming from inside his head. Sensing no threat in the voice, he didn't bolt up in fight mode, instead he opened his eyes to see floating, blueish lights above him. ''Where am I...?''

_''In a medical ward,''_ the voice – voices? – answered. _''In our flotilla.''_

Shadow turned his head to the side, and saw the figure who had been, presumably, speaking to him until then.

If Shadow hadn't already been piecing together what he last remembered up until that moment, his reaction would likely have been more extreme, because standing at his bedside was an Amphaas.

Purplish skin, vaguely reptilian features, and a somewhat droopy, third eye in the middle of the forehead. Height well above the average human, and dressed in ornate, black robes. Watching Shadow from a few feet away, the Amphaas hadn't budged thus far.

It was all coming back to Shadow – the Amphaas boarding the ship, staying behind to let the others escape. The one thing that didn't make sense was that the prowler should have self-destructed, therefore Shadow should have been dead.

_''We had time to escape the human ship before it was destroyed,''_ the voice seemed to answer the question Shadow hadn't asked. _''Once we saw that the humans were abandoning ship, it was easy to guess what would happen.''_

So, Shadow was in enemy territory. He understood that this should have been cause for grave concern, yet he remained calm. Perhaps the Amphaas had injected him with a sedative, or had used another such method to keep him relaxed and docile.

If so, it was all the more reason for Shadow to worry, but he didn't. Nor did he feel woozy, or numb, or otherwise impaired. He found himself able to sit up quite easily, and felt his stomach, arms, head, for injuries.

There was a bandage around his head. Shadow glared cautiously at the Amphaas still standing in the same spot.

_''A strike to the head was the only way to bring you back alive,''_ it replied once more to a silent question. _''You killed and badly injured several of us before we were able to neutralize you.''_

Shadow took a moment to process the words. If he had been able to overwhelm the Amphaas for so long, then the escape shuttle had probably had enough time to launch.

In other words, Sonic had to be safe.

Closing his eyes, Shadow let out a sigh of relief. Sonic was alive, and so was Shadow – against all odds.

''Why did you take me back with you?'' It would've been a stupid question normally, but Shadow hadn't heard about the Amphaas taking prisoners. Not to mention that he wasn't in a cell, or even restrained in any way. He was in what seemed to be the Amphaas equivalent of a med bay.

_''Because, young one,''_ the Amphaas answered him, _''we never forget a face.''_

*

After the distress beacon from the escape shuttles was detected, and the survivors picked up and brought to FLEETCOM, the casualties were recorded. Shadow was declared KIA along with the others who had died on the ship.

News of the incident, as well as the losses, traveled quickly. Everyone at FLEETCOM knew within an hour. Everyone barring a few exceptions.

One of those exceptions was Rouge, who didn't hear the news because she was in a cell.

To be clear to anyone who would question her competence, Rouge had _let_ herself be caught in possession of the classified, ARK-related files. It was a risky move, but one she concluded was necessary after she had finished picking her way through the files, and had pieced together the curious story of ARK and Project Shadow.

The first factor in Rouge's decision was the man, dressed in a crisp, officer's uniform, who was currently idling smugly in front of her cell. The officer wore the three-star insignia of a lieutenant general, which made him the second biggest honcho in the ASC.

''Comfortable in there, private Rouge?''

He also happened to be the most insufferable, despicable man in the ASC.

Unfortunately, his rank meant that it would take more than a few files to take him down. Rouge could already imagine him claiming that the files had been falsified.

_Fortunately_ , though, Rouge knew exactly how to play him. She would just need to put her acting skills to the test, since her usual, confident demeanour wasn't going to get him to talk. She made herself look as small, scared, and repentant as she could instead.

Based on what she had read and seen of him thus far, Rouge understood a few things, namely that the man had a sadistic streak, and a desire to control others. He would be more likely to lower his guard if she acted meek rather than brazen, and what Rouge needed was for him to blab.

''Oh, don't make that face! You won't be executed, the ASC has rules against that,'' the officer said. After a pause, he smiled, and added: ''Of course, if I wanted to shoot you here myself...''

The threat was well within Rouge's expectations. She pretended to be intimidated as she looked around the cell block. ''Aren't there cameras...?''

''They seem not to be working at the moment,'' the officer's voice was almost gleeful.

Yup—that was within Rouge's expectations as well. The lieutenant general clearly had accomplices in the ASC, who could turn off surveillance in the cell block, and leave the officer to kill her and pin it on some unassuming sucker. That made the threat very real, but Rouge kept her cool.

Everything was going according to plan so far.

''I won't tell anyone about what I learned, I swear. You've already taken my datapad, I couldn't show anyone the files even if I wanted to...!'' Rouge mentally praised herself on a flawless performance. The tremor in her voice really sold it.

The officer snickered. ''You can't expect me to believe a spy's word, now.''

In truth, Rouge wasn't scared in the slightest. She understood her target, and she had planned for this exchange well in advance, beginning when she slipped a tiny receiver in Shadow's uniform pocket as she hugged him goodbye on Netherop.

Rouge didn't have all the details then, but she knew that she would need a way to contact Shadow privately once she found out the truth. She also knew that there was a good chance Shadow wouldn't believe what she told him, unless he heard it straight from the horse's mouth – or, in this case, the lieutenant general's mouth.

That was the other reason why Rouge had given herself away. She would get this self-proclaimed mastermind to admit to the truth himself, because he wouldn't be able to resist taunting her, his unwilling audience, with all the subtleties of his plan.

Rouge guessed that she would be searched and stripped of any electronic device before being locked up, so she had preemptively hidden her transmitter in the cell block.

Another thing she had done in advance was tune her transmitter to the FLEETCOM voice channel's frequency, which meant that everyone on the space station would hear the lieutenant general admit to his crimes, and there would be no weaseling himself out of that.

After going to that amount of trouble, Rouge just hoped that the transmission would reach Shadow properly.

*

It was after giving the Amphaas a long, dubious look that Shadow said: ''I don't remember ever meeting you until now.''

_''This is true in a way,''_ the Amphaas said patiently, _''and untrue in another.''_ Instead of elaborating on that cryptic statement, the Amphaas motioned to a tray placed near Shadow's bed. In the tray lied a small, flat chip. _''This is a neural implant that we found in your brain. Do you remember getting it?''_

Shadow stared at the implant as he wrestled with the idea that the Amphaas had poked around his brain, providing this one was telling the truth. ''No,'' Shadow replied, eyeing the Amphaas distrustfully.

_''The humans must have implanted you with it without your knowledge. We suspected its existence when you could not understand us. It also appears that the implant has been tampering with your memory.''_

Somewhere during the Amphaas' explanation, Shadow's head began to throb. Shadow let out a pained hiss, cradling his head as images flashed in his mind, too vague and distorted to sort out.

A lab—the laboratory on ARK? A test tube, and angry-looking humans with guns? Shadow glared at the Amphaas and spoke through the pain: ''What...what are you doing to me...?''

_''It is likely that without interference from the implant, your real memories are returning and entering in conflict with the forged memories the humans implanted in your brain. If desired, we can provide something for the pain.''_

''You're not giving me anything—grh,'' Shadow closed his eyes, tried to force himself to ride out the pain calmly. The images flashing in his mind grew more vivid. Louder, clearer. Several eyes on him, probing and cold. Dissonant murmurs. The people outside of the—outside the tube?—talking among themselves.

_''Please, young one, allow us to help.''_

Shadow heard a sort of long hum, vaguely resembling a familiar tune, in his head, and the onslaught of scattered memories slowed to a crawl.

''You're in my head,'' Shadow stated calmly.

_''We are communicating with you the way we do among us. You are assimilating our voice well, because you are one of us, young one.''_

Instead of jarring, incomprehensible flashes, Shadow's memories presented themselves as though he was moving around in them. He saw the laboratory clearly, as well as the tube in which a child – without a doubt Shadow – seemed to be waking.

''Initial results are good,'' a muffled voice said. ''It looks like this one's going to make it.''

The image faded, replaced by that of a planet's surface, barren like Earth's moon. A few dozen cocoons lined the ground, and figures in space suits walked tentatively towards them.

_''This is our children's memory. They saw from their eggs; the humans discovered them, and took one of them as a sample. Our child was used to create you, young one. A hybrid between our race, and the humans.''_

''Why?'' Shadow moved between the rows of cocoons, peering through the translucent, gauzy exterior to the small figures within. He could tell that they were awake in there. ''Why would they do that? To what end?''

_''We do not know the motivations of the humans,''_ the Amphaas sounded almost frustrated for the first time in their conversation. _''Until recently, we could not understand the odd, garbled way they communicate.''_

Incongruously, the Amphaas added: _''No offense, young one.''_

''I remember the Amphaas attacking ARK,'' Shadow said, ignoring the comment. ''I remember you shooting my friend as we ran away—she was just a child. Was that you getting revenge?''

_''We were angry,''_ the Amphaas answered as the image changed back to ARK. _''But we went to meet the humans with the intention of attempting communication. A human succeeded in speaking with us through signals. He told us that the child-sample had died, and that many others had perished in order to create you.''_

Shadow recognized the man talking to the two hulking Amphaas figures in the laboratory: it was the head scientist onboard ARK, and Maria's grandfather. Two more scientists were in the room, along with four ASC soldiers, whose weapons were leveled at the Amphaas. Shadow noticed one of the soldier's finger twitch over the trigger.

The younger version of himself was there, too, looking up wide-eyed at the Amphaas.

_''We were angrier,''_ the Amphaas continued, _''but we did not attack. There was a sliver of happiness amid our sorrow—that was the day we met you. Though you were created by human hands, you were still a child of the Amphaas. You recognized our words when we spoke to you.''_

The humming sound in Shadow's head changed, becoming more familiar, and he knew then that the Amphaas was being truthful. Shadow remembered hearing this sound, surprised and curious, but welcoming. The Amphaas had seen him as one of their own.

''What happened next?'' Shadow masked a cough – there was a knot in his throat.

_''One of the humans attacked us. Perhaps out of fear or hate, we do not know. You tried to defend us, and the other humans with the weapons retaliated.''_

Shadow watched as the whole thing unraveled; the soldier losing his nerve at the sight of the aliens, and shooting one down, the remaining Amphaas rearing up to fight back, and the fifteen year-old Shadow rushing to shove the weapon out of the soldier's hands.

The soldier pushed Shadow down before leveling his weapon at him.

''Shadow!''

Shadow hadn't noticed Maria peeking through the door, but suddenly there she was, running to protect him. Shadow's body grew cold, and he instinctively flinched away as the memory that was just as horrific as the one the humans had replaced it with played out.

_''You took the little human, and ran,''_ the Amphaas spoke, although Shadow barely registered it. _''We heard our dying brothers calling for help, and so more of us came to help, to fight the humans. To rescue our child.''_

There had definitely been more than two Amphaas wreaking havoc and exterminating the humans on ARK, Shadow remembered, as he desperately dragged along a mortally wounded Maria to somewhere they could hide.

It was Maria who convinced him to hide in an escape pod.

''Please, Shadow,'' Maria's weak, almost gurgling voice cut through Shadow's heart. The humming had grown low and plaintive. ''Promise me you'll try to be happy. And you'll try to—forgive humans. Give the rest of them—a chance.''

The memory started to ebb and fade.

_''We made quick work of the humans, but we remember the small one. She was not killed by our hands.''_

''For whatever that's worth...,'' Shadow muttered.

The Amphaas idled in the room as though not knowing what to do while Shadow wrestled with the truth about his past.

The outcome hadn't changed; Maria and the other people on ARK were all dead, although it hadn't been a result of the Amphaas randomly deciding that they felt like decimating a human space station. It would be one thing to say that Shadow had spent three years holding an all-consuming grudge for a tragedy that the Amphaas hadn't even instigated, but the war hadn't ended onboard ARK. It had started there.

Swallowing his grief, Shadow asked: ''Is that why the Amphaas have been attacking human colonies? Only a few people were involved in the experiments on ARK—other humans have tried to make contact with you since then. To try and establish communication.''

The ASC had to have attempted different ways to communicate besides sending voice messages; something had to have gone through to the Amphaas.

_''We heard their signals, and we saw their images, but we do not believe. We have seen the true face of their species.''_

''You've got it wrong,'' Shadow insisted.

After what he had seen in his memories, Shadow understood that the Amphaas weren't the only ones to blame for the war. He didn't know what the scientists on ARK had been hoping to achieve by creating an human-amphaas hybrid, but the main goal of their research had been to cure illnesses. Perhaps that had been their reason to experiment with mixing humans and Amphaas.

Still twisted, to be fair.

Yet Shadow believed that not everything onboard ARK had been rotten. Not everyone. ''Humans aren't all bad. You saw it in my memory—Maria protected me at the cost of her own life!''

The Amphaas bobbed its head in what looked like a nod. _''We saw.''_

''There are others like her, humans who would give up their life to protect other people—and humans who want to make peace with you, because they believe that you can't all be the same. I used to think they were idiots, but I was wrong. People like me, who only see in black and white, we're the idiots. It's that kind of thinking that got us into this war.''

Shadow realized that he may have been looking at the situation more simplistically than his nature would normally allow, but he found that he wasn't interested in over-analyzing the subtleties of the war that had lead humans and Amphaas to this point.

Thousands of lives had been lost, and a whole lot more stood to be lost if both sides didn't stop whacking each other with sticks.

And it was all _so_ stupid.

''Looks like you did it, Sonic,'' Shadow muttered. ''You turned me into a pacifist.''

_''We are conflicted,''_ the Amphaas said, an audible hint of hesitation in its voice. _''The consensus has been to remain hostile until now.''_

''That's your hive mind thing, right? You all see and feel the same thing?'' Shadow had picked up on it early in their conversation, although it was a difficult concept to wrap his head around.

_''More or less. We share what we see, what we feel, in a constant stream.''_

''Is that something I could do?''

_''We hope.''_

The Amphaas paused, then appeared to shift uncomfortably in place. _''There are only a few of us currently in this system. Those in our fleet have departed, and we do not sense them. It is likely that they have not changed their consensus.''_

Shadow did not like the sound of that one iota. ''Where did they go?''

_''To the human homeland, the one called Earth.''_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me: ''im updating early bc i felt about about the cliffhanger''  
> also me: -ends the chapter in another cliffhanger-
> 
> Hehehe. Well, at least you know Shadow's alive! _And_ an alien!! How cool is that?


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are at the last chapter. This one is a behemoth, and I'm glad it's done. 
> 
> Thank you to the people who left nice comments (special shout-out to heartof_paper). All of you are the only reason I kicked my butt into finishing this fic.
> 
> Buckle up, enjoy the ride, and please read the notes at the end.
> 
> You can find me [on tumblr](https://narumiya-gei.tumblr.com/)

0900 hours, November 13, 2552 (military calendar)

Amphaas ship

Deep Space, ???

I'm not sure how much time I have, so I'll make this short:

Shit has hit the fan.

* * *

Standing on the bridge of an Amphaas ship hurtling through a slipspace portal inbound for the Sol System, Shadow marveled at the degree at which his life had gone off the rails.

To be fair, finding out they were part-alien would do that to anyone.

The half-alien thing, however, was something Shadow would have to process later, because he currently faced a much more pressing concern: stopping the Amphaas fleet from obliterating Earth.

Mere minutes ago, Shadow had convinced the Amphaas who had helped him through the recovery of his memories that killing all humans because a few of them were rotten assholes wasn't the way to go. Shadow hadn't thought himself as someone capable of swaying anyone with his words, but something he said must have struck a chord.

The Amphaas who hadn't left with the rest of their fleet had agreed to go intercept them to try and stop the attack on Earth – if there was still time.

So enormous that it stretched past the vicinity of Earth's orbit, the Amphaas fleet came into view as soon as they emerged from the slipspace portal. Shadow couldn't help shuddering as they weaved their way through the ships, and realized that a truce was the only chance humanity ever had to survive this war.

''Can the other Amphaas...sense you from here?'' Shadow turned to the ship's captain. ''Can you talk to them?''

The captain seemed to grimace. _''_ _There is too much interference. Our brothers are not listening.''_

''Interference?''

It became clear as they moved closer that the attack was already underway – ASC fighter-class ships streaked across space returning fire on similarly sized Amphaas ships, while the human frigates fired in regular intervals at the bigger Amphaas spacecrafts, dealing a scant amount of damage to their shields.

Past the blockade of ASC frigates loomed FLEETCOM, an impressive feat of space engineering, although even it didn't have the defenses to withstand a sustained attack from the Amphaas flotilla. It would fall eventually, and Earth would be next.

Shadow willed himself to stay calm, and to think. He had to stop this somehow, there had to be a way. ''If the humans stop firing at them, will you be able to reach the Amphaas?''

_''It is likely so.''_

''Ok,'' Shadow psyched himself up. He had an idea. ''Can you broadcast on an open channel?''

The communications officer pressed a few glowing buttons on a console, and Shadow heard a short, encouraging hum in his head.

''This is private Shadow of the Allied Space Corps. I am onboard an Amphaas craft.'' This was the stupidest, craziest thing Shadow had ever done, and if he didn't end up shot out of the sky, or executed for high treason, he would never scoff at people who believed in miracles again. ''I need to get in touch with anyone at FLEETCOM.''

It took two seconds for the communications officer at FLEETCOM to raise the Amphaas ship's frequency, but the transmission started off with a few seconds of static-y silence, as though the people at FLEETCOM were at a complete loss on how to respond to this video game level of absurdity.

Finally, a scruffy voice spoke up: ''...Care to tell us what you're doing on that ship, private?''

Shadow didn't recognize the voice, but he hoped it was a high-ranked officer. The highest, if possible. ''The Amphaas and I are here to call off the attack.''

There was another pause. Then: ''You're aware we're being actively shot at as we speak?''

''Yes, sir. But—''

The communication console suddenly flashed as a different channel tried to raise them. The Amphaas clicked open the channel.

'' _Shadow???''_

Shadow couldn't in a million years fight back the smile that spread on his face at the sound of Sonic's voice. ''I'm so glad you're safe.''

''Wh—'' Sonic sputtered over the comm, his voice somewhere between shock, and confusion, and immeasurable relief. ''That's...that's my line? I'm going to kick your ass as soon as I can get to you??''

''Not if we don't put an end to this fight,'' Shadow replied, still smiling.''FLEETCOM, are you still with me?''

The same gruff voice answered: ''Affirmative. Listen, son, never mind for now the fact that you were presumed KIA, but you can't just show up in an active warzone, and—''

''Sir, some of the Amphaas are willing to call a truce,'' Shadow cut the officer off. ''Those who aren't...they can get there, but not while you're returning fire on them.''

''They're the ones who came right to our doorstep and started firing, private,'' the officer shot back, an edge to his voice. 

''And humans are the ones who stole and used their children for experiments.'' Shadow paused, aware that his choice of words would make or break his gambit. He couldn't risk antagonizing the ASC, not to mention that he couldn't be sure if anyone at FLEETCOM knew about the experiments on ARK after the station's shutdown.

The only person who seemed interested in uncovering the truth was Rouge. Shadow wished he hadn't been so dismissive of her search.

Taking in a deep breath, Shadow thought of the anguish in the Amphaas' voices as they told him about their stolen child, and about all the children who could have been. ''They're different from us,'' Shadow said at last. ''They feel differently. They're always connected and sharing what they're seeing, experiencing—if one of them is in pain, they all sense it. They don't forget a thing, all of them remember me from the incident on the space colony ARK three years ago.''

There was another long silence, until the officer, his tone a bit more mild, said: ''Where are you getting at, private?''

''The Amphaas who are open to a truce can convey the decision to the rest of their fleet. You only need to stop firing for a few minutes, it should be enough for the Amphaas to reach a consensus. We have a chance to end this war, and we need to take it. ''

His speech over, Shadow tried to remain calm as he waited for the ASC's response. He understood their perspective as the ones defending their homeland from a direct invasion, and he understood that asking them to let down their defences for even a few minutes was a tall order. 

What would he do if the ASC rejected his plea, and kept fighting? Would he turn on the Amphaas to defend humanity? He didn't like the idea. Even if he did, there would be very little Shadow could do by himself. 

''Cease fire.'' The words, almost unreal, came over the open channel. ''All fighter squadrons, evasive maneuvers only.''

All at once, the ASC frigates stopped firing, while the fighters picked up speed to dance around the smaller Amphaas crafts chasing their tail, and, just like that, the battlefield became half as chaotic. 

Shadow didn't have the luxury of celebrating, instantly he said: ''Get the flotilla to stop attacking. Tell them the humans agreed to a truce.''

A hum filled Shadow's head as the Amphaas called out to their brothers, their unified voices travelling across space. Shadow wondered if the humans could hear it too, or if it was only his Amphaas half that made it possible. Maybe the humans could hear it, but didn't notice the nuances in the sound, didn't understand the feelings conveyed. If so, it was truly a shame.

Another hum followed the first, swelling as though one Amphaas after the other was joining in, yet the sound remained harmonious. Gentle, even. 

While the humming kept on, the huge cannons mounted on the Amphaas ships relented, the backdrop of space going dark without the blue streaks of plasma lighting it up intermittently. Just like that, every human in the ASC fleet got to witness history in the making.

''We did it...,'' Shadow said in a breath. ''They've stopped firing.''

The comm crackled on. ''...I'll be damned.''

_''Young one,''_ the Amphaas spoke to Shadow. _''We have listened, and we have decided to trust in your belief that the humans are capable of amicable behaviour.''_

_Thank you,_ Shadow thought, having assumed sometime during his first conversation with an Amphaas that they were somehow tuned to his thoughts just as he could hear them speaking in his head. _You did the right thing._

_''There is still a problem. One ship has rejected the consensus''_

Shadow's stomach dropped. ''Which one?''

One of the dots on the navigator's console flashed red, identifying a ship that hung at the forefront of the flotilla. The ship was bigger than the rest, and its cannon looked different than that of the others – instead of a rod-like shape, the mouth of this cannon was composed of three metal appendages joining together at the top to form a pyramid. 

Before leaving towards the Sol system, the Amphaas had told Shadow about a human weapon of incomparable destructive power. It had drifted in space, derelict, over an unknown number of years, until the Amphaas had found it. The Amphaas had been able to restore it, and had equipped their flagship with it for use only as a last resort. 

Data-mining revealed that this weapon had once been called the Eclipse Cannon. 

Its destructive capability had been one of the influencing forces in the Amphaas' distrust of the humans, but, it appeared that a few of them were planning on using it against the humans.

Shadow really hated irony.

''How do we stop them? They haven't fired yet—we still have time, don't we?''

_''The cannon needs time to charge, but it is impossible to stop the firing sequence remotely. We would need to board the ship.''_

''Can't we just concentrate our fire on the ship and take it down before the Eclipse Cannon finishes charging up?''

_''The flagship's shield are our strongest, it will likely sustain even concentrated fire long enough.''_

''Ok.'' They were back in deep shit, and so quickly, too. ''Ok. We board the ship then. Get me a fighter, I'll get it done.''

At that moment, the man from FLEETCOM connected to their voice channel. ''We would appreciate if the Amphaas fleet left our system for now, or at least get away from Earth's orbit. One delegate ship may stay, and we can figure out how to proceed from there.''

''Sir, one of the Amphaas ships hasn't complied to the cease-fire,'' Shadow said. ''We're dealing with it now, just stay off our fighters.''

''Exc—''

Shadow didn't stick around to listen to the rest, instead following three Amphaas along the ship to the hangar, where they all hopped into fighter-class ships. They looked much sleeker on the outside than the ASC fighters, and the controls on the inside were almost minimalist. Shadow figured that, given a half-hour crash course, he could fly them easily.

_''We still stay connected with you, young on. The controls will appear familiar to you.''_

''That's convenient,'' Shadow commented as the humming in his head indeed made the controls seem more intuitive.

The fighters, including those that had already been out in the battlefield, converged towards the flagship, meeting very thin resistance from the handful of rogue fighters. 

_''We will concentrate our fire on a small portion of the shield where the hangar of the flagship is. We should be able to make a path for you to fly through.''_

''If you can punch through a portion of the shield, why not aim for the cannon?''

_''Destroying the mouth of the cannon won't stop the firing sequence, it will only affect the shot's trajectory, likely causing massive damage in the surrounding area rather than a specific point.''_

''No easy way around this, got it,'' Shadow replied, then punched a different frequency in his onboard comm panel. He had memorized the frequency after seeing it earlier. ''Sonic, can your hear me?''

There was a bit of static from the other side as Sonic almost shouted back: ''Yes??''

Shadow stifled a laugh. ''Just wanted to hear your voice.''

''You—I—just—you're going to have _so much_ explaining to do.''

''When it's safe.''

''Are you planning on boarding that ship? The big one you're all flying towards?''

''Yeah. It's got a huge cannon we have to manually power off.''

''Count me in.'' 

Those words were followed by a single ASC fighter taking off towards the formation of Amphaas ships, and a lot of confused chatter over all channels, human and Amphaas.

''Sonic, no. It's too dangerous, I'll handle it.''

''There's no way I'm letting you do the hero thing by yourself this time,'' Sonic's voice was adamant. ''I'm not going to risk losing you again.''

A sharp pang of guilt had Shadow relenting as Sonic's fighter ship caught up to them in a series of break-neck maneuvers. _Fast on land and in space, that one_ , Shadow thought, before he flipped his own ship sideways. ''That one's me,'' he said. ''Stay close.''

They were closing on the flagship seconds later, and Shadow spotted the section of the shield that had been breached, as well as the sizable hole punched into the hangar door. He sped up, leading the charge inside, and managed a fairly smooth landing.

In a fortunate twist, the hole in the hangar door finished sealing itself with a shield-like, artificial wall – Amphaas countermeasure in the unlikely event of a hull breach. It seemed not to have kicked in quickly enough, however, leaving the hangar clear of rogue Amphaas. Getting sucked into space had to be an appropriate punishment for attempting to destroy an entire planet.

Shadow hopped out of the fighter, and immediately turned to watch Sonic land – his ship easy to pick out of the Amphaas models. Shadow's breath caught in his throat when Sonic's head popped out of the cockpit.

Shadow knew that they didn't have a lot of time. They needed to hit the ground running. Any kind of overdrawn, cheesy reunion stuff had to wait until the world-ending crisis was out of the way, regardless of how much Shadow wanted to run over to Sonic and pull him into a hour-long hug. 

Sonic did the running over instead, roughly a dozen emotions on his face as he looked at Shadow. ''I can't believe you're here. I thought you...''

''I know,'' Shadow offered after Sonic trailed off. ''I'm sorry.''

''So help me, Shadow,'' Sonic warned, ''if you pull that kind of thing again, I'm going to find you in the afterlife and annoy you for eternity.''

Smiling softly, Shadow answered: ''That doesn't sound so bad.''

_''Young one,''_ suddenly the Amphaas spoke up in Shadow's head. _''We can lead you to the cannon's core.''_

''Right,'' Shadow tore his gaze away from Sonic, who had to do much the same. ''Let's hurry.''

So ensued a mad dash across what had to be the biggest ship in any existing fleet, past or present. The Amphaas seemed to know exactly where to go, which meant either that their ships all had a similar structure, or that their thoughts were in sync with the other Amphaas onboard despite being in open conflict with them. 

Shadow gradually found that the latter was true as dissonant humming sounds clashed in his head, most of them distinctly hostile. It was unpleasant at best, incapacitating at worst. Shadow stood somewhere in between. The Amphaas had to have learned to tune the noise out, or perhaps to cope with it better, because they appeared to be fine. 

Shadow's party thinned as it made its way across the flagship to the cannon, and the allied Amphaas urged Shadow and Sonic to keep going while they dealt with their rogue brethren. When Shadow made it to the core, only Sonic remained with him.

The core hung in the middle of a large, circular room, which was completely empty except for the walkway leading up to the core, the apparatus holding it up, and the conduit connecting it to the mouth of the cannon. 

The entire left-hand side of the hull was made of a transparent material, allowing a full view of wherever the cannon would fire. Shadow definitely hadn't noticed a see-through section in the ship's hull when they were flying over, so it had to be one-way. 

''Whoa...,'' Sonic let out as he glanced around the room. ''The Amphaas certainly don't need any tips from us on how to build ships.''

There was a noticeable pressure in the air in the room that became stronger as Sonic and Shadow approached the core, which seemed to crackle with energy coming from the seven gems slotted into it. Seven gems of different colours – red, yellow, green, purple, light blue, dark blue, and clear.

''What's with the bling on the core...?'' Sonic couldn't help staring at the gems with a measure of apprehension – anticipation? - as he sensed the power emanating from them. ''What are those?''

''The Amphaas don't have a word for them, since they don't really talk through words to begin with,'' Shadow answered as he, too, found himself almost enraptured in the presence of the gems. ''But they told me that the gems hold a limitless supply of energy.''

Sonic had no trouble believing it. ''They're what's powering the cannon?''

''Yeah. We need to remove them.''

''I feel like touching them will either kill me or give me an insane power boost,'' Sonic said, still eyeing over the gems. 

All too eager to shield Sonic from potential danger, Shadow replied: ''You don't have to, I can do it mys—''

''Forget it,'' Sonic cut him off. ''We're doing this together.''

The entire ship seemed to rock right then, nearly knocking the two of them off their feet, and it was enough of a sign that they were running dangerously short on time. Sonic and Shadow closed the distance between them and the core, feeling as though the air around them was pulsating from the energy of those mysterious gems. 

Sonic glanced his way, a hint of nervousness in his expression. ''Ready?''

With a firm nod, Shadow reached out his hand to grab one of the gems—

—and his vision went white.

It was an odd experience. Similar to the out-of-body experience he had gone through when the Amphaas were showing him old memories, both his and those of the unborn Amphaas. He knew, in the back of his mind, that he was still in the same room, that he hadn't moved, but he felt as though he was soaring through space at a speed that would tear his skin off. It also felt like his whole body was on fire.

_It all starts with this. A jewel containing the ultimate power._

Although he couldn't see anything, Shadow's body continued to move on its own, compelled by sheer power of will to grab another one of the gems, which he ripped from the core, and tossed aside. 

The gem floated aloft before hitting the ground, joining the two others that Sonic and Shadow had collectively pulled out.

_Where does he get all that power? Is this the power of the Chaos Emeralds? Shadow, are you ok?_

There seemed to be something else pouring out of the gems besides raw energy. Shadow caught glimpses of images and voices flurrying wildly around the edges of that empty white space. They were just flashes of isolated moments, chaotic and seemingly random, but something in Shadow's mind assembled and assimilated them as though they were his own memories. 

_Shadow! Your power is getting weaker! Hey, are you ok?_

Shadow faintly understood that they weren't actually his memories, but memories somehow stored in the gems, yet they made sense to him. Why? Why did all this feel so familiar?

_I've got you. You're going to live, Shadow._

Grabbing a fourth emerald and ripping it out of the core, Shadow collapsed as the entire ship jerked, and the floor gave underneath him. Shadow teetered on the brink of consciousness for a few seconds, until he heard Sonic calling out to him. 

''We did it, Shadow...,'' Sonic spoke softly. ''How about you wait until we're not on an alien ship to pass out?''

Opening his eyes to the wonderful sight of Sonic's green eyes gazing down at him, Shadow let out a long, contented sigh. There was relief and exhaustion mixed in there, too, but mostly contentment. They were alive, and they were out of immediate danger, and Sonic had truly beautiful eyes. 

Kneeling down, Sonic had propped Shadow up on his lap, cradling Shadow's head in his hands. A few hours ago, Sonic thought he would never see Shadow again, yet there he was. Both of them safe, and together. 

An ending as happy as they came. 

''Did we really do it...? What happened to the gems?''

Sonic glanced upwards, prompting Shadow to do the same.

The seven gems were floating in a circle around them, no longer emitting the same, palpable kind of energy. 

''The Chaos Emeralds...,'' Sonic said. ''That's what the humans called them the last time they were in our possession.''

Shadow sat up, turning to give Sonic a curious look. ''How do you know that?''

Sonic hesitated, as though realizing he had been caught saying something completely outlandish. Then he remembered that after the day they had had, nothing would seem too extraordinary. ''I think I got some kind of fever dream from touching the emeralds...It was like I was seeing memories. From centuries ago.''

''You too?!''

Sonic blinked at him. ''Wait, what?!''

The two of them stared at each other, wide-eyed and mouths agape like two characters out of a cartoon. 

''So, not a fever dream...,'' Sonic eventually said.

''I don't think so,'' Shadow replied as a smile tugged at his lips. ''I think it was memories that were stored in the Chaos Emeralds somehow.''

''Did it kind of feel like...we were in those memories? Not _us_ us, but...a version of us?''

Shadow's gaze settled on Sonic. ''Yes.''

There had been two people who kept popping up in the Emeralds' memories, the same two people, who appeared to have gone through quite the adventure together; who had met as enemies, had fought against each other, fought together, and been each other's salvation. 

The Chaos Emeralds still remembered being shared between the of them in a perfect symbiosis. It seemed like those two people, whose bond was so unique, had been the only one to achieve such a thing. The only ones to leave their mark, their print, on the gems. 

Maybe Shadow and Sonic's brains were assimilating a few details differently, maybe their names weren't the same, maybe they looked different, and yet, they both sensed it.

No matter how unlikely, no matter how far-fetched or silly the concept of past lives.

It was them. 

''I think we saved the world together,'' Sonic said in a breath.

A smile dawned on Shadow's face, sincere and unrestrained. ''Not only that, but we just did it a second time.''

Sonic let out a short, breathy laugh. ''It's kinda crazy, but nice also—to think we knew each other in another life, and found each other again.''

Ever since he had seen Sonic standing in that row on the ASC carrier, Shadow had been unable to shake the feeling that he knew him from somewhere; that Sonic was someone incredibly precious to him. Shadow had stopped wondering about it the more Sonic – in this life – took up his attention, nearly every inch of his brain space, and, although it was nice to know that he had been right about the two of them sharing a past connection, Shadow didn't care anymore. 

The Sonic who was sitting right in front of him mattered, and Shadow planned on continuing to dedicate all his attention to this Sonic. ''Yeah,'' Shadow said softly. ''I'm glad we found each other.''

The Chaos Emeralds, which had, until then, floated slowly around them, picked up speed. They broke off in different directions after a few moments, and took off like shooting stars, leaving no trace of their existence behind.

Sonic stared in the direction one of the emeralds had disappeared. ''Did we make them uncomfortable?''

''The Amphaas told me that the gems scatter after they're used.''

''We didn't really use them, though.''

''Maybe releasing those memories used up some of their energy?''

''You know what,'' Sonic grinned, ''I'm not going to think about it too hard. They're magic jewels, that's good enough for me.''

''Maybe that's for the best.'' 

Just as Shadow said that, he began to hear a light hum – almost lilting – in his head, and felt tremendous relief wash over him. ''The rest of the Amphaas have stopped fighting back. They're going along with the truce.''

''How do you know?''

Shadow hesitated a moment. ''I can hear them. The way they communicate is different. It's almost like...singing, and they can choose to convey it to other Amphaas if they're open to listening.''

''That sounds nice,'' Sonic cracked a smile. 

''Not always.'' Shadow averted his eyes. 

Now that they weren't in crisis mode anymore, and Shadow was getting his first breather since waking up in the med bay, the whole amphaas-human hybrid issue came into view. Shadow hadn't given himself any time to process it, nor to think of what it would mean for him and for the people in his life. 

''You know...,'' Sonic tentatively broke the silence, ''Rouge figured it all out. Before you showed up.''

Shadow almost laughed – of course Rouge did. ''If anyone was going to, it had to be her. How is she?''

''Untouchable as always. She sniffed out the ARK story, got locked up, exposed the officer behind the cover-up to everyone at FLEETCOM, and got herself released.'' Sonic paused and tried to get a read on Shadow's expression, but Shadow seemed set on not letting himself look vulnerable. ''The point is—everyone at FLEETCOM found out the truth a few hours before the Amphaas fleet showed up.''

''Right.''

''So—what I mean is, we all got time to process it, and—Rouge didn't do it to rat you out, I'm sure. It just gave us—''

''It's fine, really,'' Shadow cut in. ''It might've been the only reason the ASC agreed to a cease-fire earlier, so Rouge is probably the reason why we were able to stop the war.''

''I'm sure she'll love to hear she was the real hero of the story.''

Shadow didn't blame Rouge for exposing his true nature to the ASC. He would've done so himself eventually – Shadow wasn't one to hide, certainly not out of fear or shame. All Rouge had done was save him the trouble, on top of saving the world. Shadow could already hear her fishing for praise when he saw her again. ''No doubt about it.''

''Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that I already knew about you—about what they were doing on ARK, and I just want you to know that it doesn't matter to me that you're part Amphaas. You could be part hedgehog and I'd still love you.''

''Part hedgehog? That's a pretty odd combination.''

''Yeah, I don't know, it just popped in my head.''

Something dawned on Shadow. ''Wait. You love me?''

It was Sonic's turn to pause, eyes wide as though the realization came as news to him, too. ''I—Yeah. I think I do.''

Shadow stared at him for a long moment while his brain struggled to compute with this new information. Sonic loved him? This amazing, beautiful boy loved him? Unlikely. Nigh impossible. ''No, you don't.''

Incensed at having his feelings put in question, Sonic frowned, and insisted: '' _Yes_ , I do.''

Nope. Still didn't make any sense to Shadow. _''Why?''_

''Wish I knew!''

The two of them stared at each other; Sonic with an irritated scowl, Shadow with the same confused, deer-in-the-headlights look, and both with their heart hammering in their chest. 

Stopping an intergalactic war wasn't an issue, but facing and properly expressing their feelings left them at a loss. Especially so for Shadow, who had only known one such open and honest bond until he had met Sonic.

Yet it wasn't as though he hadn't pictured this moment, hadn't dreamed of it. He had dreamed of a life with Sonic; had dreamed of years spent cherishing him, protecting him, making him happy. Shadow didn't expect anything back from Sonic – in all those fantasies, it was enough that Sonic was there. Shadow didn't need anything more from him. 

Suddenly, Sonic reached out, and took Shadow's hand. His expression had softened over time, as though he understood Shadow's hesitance. Maybe he did, only partially, or maybe he didn't. He knew, either way, that he wanted to put Shadow at ease. 

Sonic wasn't known for his patience, but he wanted to be patient with Shadow. ''You said you wanted us to come back to Earth with me and raise Chao, right?''

Shadow managed a nod.

''Then we'll do that,'' Sonic said with a grin. ''Nothing's changed.''

Turning his head to the side, Sonic added: ''Look.''

In the rush of stopping the cannon, the whole thing with the Chaos Emeralds, and Sonic blurting out his feelings, neither of them had noticed that from the side of the hull that gave a large, breathtaking view into space, they could see Earth. 

It looked serene from up high. Dreamlike.

While Sonic still held his hand, Shadow stared at the Earth in wonder. Shadow had spent years thinking he would never have a home again, but meeting Sonic had changed that. 

Maybe Shadow would one day be able to convey everything he felt for Sonic, all the wonderful ways in which Sonic had changed his life. Until then, he could start small.

Squeezing Sonic's hand back, Shadow said: ''Let's go home.''

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wooo! How was that?
> 
> But, bigCheese, a lot of things are missing!! Like, where's Knuckles?? And you mentioned Rouge, but how could you not show us her reunion with Shadow and such?? Not to mention, you skipped her entire conversation with that evil colonel dude?! We wanted to see that!! And what happens after the truce and all that, you built up this whole intergalactic war thing, and then just go ''and thus, peace.'' How lazy are you??
> 
> Boys, these are all fair questions. These are all moments that, had I a smidgen of motivation left, I might've made the effort to add in. Alas, I'm plumb out. This chapter is just shy of 5000 words, and I only managed to get through it because I wanted to reward the very few amount of people who gave me feedback on this fic. I hope that you can be satisfied with what I've given you.
> 
> Knuckles is fine, he was piloting one of the ASC fighters. He's alive and well, he's going to be happy to see Shadow alive and well. He's going to be sad when Rouge sneakily ditches the ASC because she never intended to stay working for the space army. She will make sure they meet again.
> 
> The humans and Amphaas will slowly establish amicable relations.
> 
> Shadow and Sonic will spend their lives happily raising Chao on Earth, and Shadow will one day feel ready to fearlessly share his feelings. 
> 
> Rest easy heroes.
> 
> * * *
> 
> a few notes: 
> 
> I didn't have the space to squeeze in that piece of lore, but I learned in one of [BDG's videos](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwDGReApaB0) that the Chaos Emeralds were initially described as having been created by the collective negative emotions of the people on Earth. I kinda went with that, and that's why the rogue Amphaas immediately surrender after the Emeralds scatter. 
> 
> During the memory scene, I used some of the lines from the [final boss battle in SA2](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqvFZCXPHrU&t=279s). Listen to it and gush at how many times Sonic asks Shadow if he's ok. He worries about him so much, you guys.


End file.
